The Power Within
by x-Sheeqsee112-x
Summary: Gohan discovers the true source of his power. The Z-Fighters go through a dark time, facing challenges and their own mortality. A new enemy arises, and everyone must step up to face this new obstacle. This is a Gohan-centered fic.
1. The Dream

**The Power Within**

It was night. The stars were twinkling in the sky, and the nocturnal animals were up and about in the woods. Gohan sat at his desk, finishing up his science homework for his mother. Science always interested him; he loved learning about how nature worked, and Bulma always lent him equipment for his own experiments.

'_Hmm, how can I finish this off?_' he thought, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. '_It needs to be something that concludes the essay properly…..aha!_' His pencil scratched furiously at the paper. The black-haired child had just finished the last sentence of his lab report when his eyes could remain open no longer, and he nodded off to sleep.

(In his dream)

A soundless wind blowing. A rustle of leaves. A soft material on his skin. Gohan opened his eyes to find that he was lying in the middle of a field in the forest. He sat up and looked around in awe.

The forest was…shimmering?

Indeed it was; the trees were sparkling in the sunlight and, on closer inspection, he realized that they were made of silver. The leaves made pretty chiming noises when they moved, and the soft yellow sun seemed to be winking at him through the cotton-ball clouds. It was all so…_surreal_.

"Wow…" he breathed, taking a couple of steps forward. The grass tickled his bare feet as he walked around. There was a faint, alluring melody in the background that seemed to beckon to him. His slow steps sped up to a jog, then to a run as he chased the song.

'_Where is it coming from?_' he thought. '_It sounds like it's coming from every direction._'

The melody became louder, but for some reason it sounded foggy, as if his ears were clogged. It sounded so mesmerizing…he had to catch it. Why couldn't he catch it?

'_Gohan…_'

What was that?

'_Wake up, Gohan…_'

Mother?

'_Gohan!_'

His eyes snapped open, and with a start he realized that had fallen asleep on his desk. His mother was standing above him, glaring at him.

"Gohan! I told you to leave your homework for tomorrow, not stay up all night doing it." She brushed his bangs away from his face. "Now wake up, breakfast is almost ready."

She left the room. The Saiyan half-breed pushed his chair back and sighed. The beautiful melody was still ringing in his ears, but when he tried to hum it, he found he couldn't.

'_Life's too short to worry about a silly dream,_' he thought, trying to shrug it off. He got up to wash his face and brush his teeth.

A short while later, the young boy was dressed and ready for the day. He went downstairs to the kitchen and took a seat at the table, drooling as he smelt the delicious scents of breakfast.

"Good morning, mom!" he chirped. "What's for breakfast?"

"Just some pancakes and fruit," she replied, piling them onto a plate and placing them on the table. She took a seat herself just as Gohan dug in. Chichi was reading something while eating.

"What's that?" asked Gohan, after he chewed and swallowed a mouthful of pancakes. She glanced at him from around the paper.

"Oh, it's your science lab report. I picked it up from under your head while you were sleeping; when I realized it was finished, I decided to mark it," she said. Chichi scanned the paper once more. "It's really well done."

Gohan beamed. "Thanks."

His mother sighed and put the report down. "Now sweetie, I have an important matter that I must discuss with you," she said. The hybrid looked at her, confused.

"I got a letter from the Ministry of Education today." A pause. He was still confused. "They said that you're lacking an arts credit. Without it, they can't graduate you to the university level."

He gaped at her. "W-what? Art? But mom, I suck!" he exclaimed. Chichi glared at him, effectively shutting him up.

"You know, there are different kinds of art," she said. "There's drama…"

A sound of disgust.

"Art…"

A shake of the head.

"And music."

His eyes brightened up. "Music? You mean, like playing an instrument?" he asked. Chichi nodded.

"Of course, what else? You'll have to pick out an instrument, and then we'll need to get you some sheet music, and then we'll need to get you a tutor…"

He tuned her out, his thoughts drifting back to his strange dream. Maybe if he took music lessons, he might be able to finally catch the tune.

'_Yeah, this is perfect! It's like killing two birds with one _stone' he thought, ecstatic. '_I'll get my art credit _and _figure out what that song sounds like!_'

"So, mother…" he began, interrupting her. "When can I get my instrument?"

She thought for a moment. "Well, we'll need to get the paperwork done first, and then they'll give us a place to pick one out. You can go tomorrow, okay?"

He jumped out of his seat, ignoring the disaproving look his mother gave him. "Yes!"

Tomorrow was going to be a great day.

* * *

**Yes, I know...you're probably thinking this has nothing to do with the story. The plot might go slow for a bit, but don't worry! You'll realize the significance of this soon. Also, the rating is K+ now, but it will be T soon. So, for any kiddies reading this, be warned! There's swearing up ahead! It's going to be a while, though. Stay tuned for the next chapter, review, and don't hesitate to point out any flaws!**


	2. Instruments and Terror Tutors

**The Power Within**

**(Just a quick little author's note. Firstly, I would like to clear up any confusion by telling you that this story takes place only a month or two after Gohan fought Cell, which means he is about 11 and is a SSJ2. There will be no Goku in the story. Also, I had this chapter completed a while ago but couldn't post it because I went on a school field trip for two days...there was no wifi! Thirdly, this chapter also seems unrelated, but I assure you that everything will be explained soon. Lastly, I'm going to be updating slowly but surely because although it doesn't seem like it, I ****_do _****have a life. Anyways, I'm going to shut up now. Enjoy!)**

The next day, Chichi and Gohan were slaving over some paperwork sent to them by the Ministry of Education. Gohan was completely lost in his thoughts; he had had a repeat of the same dream that had plagued him the night before, only this time he could have sworn the melody was…_teasing_ him.

_The chiming leaves swirled around him, dancing to the tune of the soft notes carried by the wind. When he looked up into the sky, he noticed many different coloured moons hanging like ornaments from the clouds. A strange sight. _

_The song was twirling around him, but when he tried to touch it, it flew out of his reach."Please!" Gohan cried out. He didn't know what the 'please' was for._

_Soft laughter. Light chiming. A beautiful melody—_

Gohan shook his head, trying to stop himself from thinking about the dream. Everyone had strange dreams once in a while...right?

"What, you don't want the intermediate course level?" asked his mother. "I know you're very smart, but since you've never played an instrument, I'm not sure if you're going to be able to handle the expert course level."

Gohan snapped out of his thoughts. "What? Oh…no, I'll be fine," he said. Chichi nodded and checked off a box on the paper.

"Alright, one more thing. Which instrument are you going to play? Hmm…" Chichi put down the paper. "We haven't gotten to that part yet. All that's left is to head over to the address they gave us and pick something out for you." She glanced at the address written at the bottom and wrote it down on a separate piece of paper, which she put in her pocket. She also pocketed the paperwork. "Since we don't have any other options, and Goku was the only one who could drive a car…let's take Nimbus!"

Gohan noticed the slight sadness that graced her features at the mention of her late husband and inwardly frowned. Ever since the death of his father at the Cell Games, she had tried to mask her sadness, crying only at night where she thought that he couldn't hear her. It bothered him that she was trying to hide the fact that this was tearing her apart. Gohan himself felt very guilty, depressed, and lonely after Goku's passing, but knew that the warrior only did it for the protection of the Earth. So, Gohan did the only thing he knew would make his mother happy: he smiled. "Okay!"

They boarded Nimbus and took flight, Chichi screaming at the cloud to slow down the entire time. A short while later, she pointed at a building in the distance. "That's it!" she yelled over the whipping winds.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes!"

They landed Nimbus right in front of the building. Gohan waved goodbye to the fluffy, yellow cloud.

"Thanks again, Nimbus!" he said. The cloud flew off, and the mother and son entered the structure. As soon as they entered, they were immediately greeted by a store employee.

"Hello! Are you here to purchase an instrument or to rent one for a course?" he asked professionally. Chichi handed him the paperwork from earlier.

"Rent one. My son needs to pick out an instrument," she said. The man scanned his eyes over the paper for a second and then left, presumably to enter the information into a computer. After a couple of minutes, he returned.

"Alright. This way, please."

The employee led Gohan and Chichi to a variety of aisles: percussion, wind, brass…Gohan didn't like any of them. They were finally led to the strings aisle, where the young half-Saiyan stopped them.

"Wait! I think I might like something here," he said, examining the instruments. He closed his eyes and tried to remember the song in his dream. So intoxicating…it sounded like…

"How about this?" he asked, pointing to a violin. The store owner brought it down and gave it to Gohan.

"It has a beautiful finish, and the sound is crisp and clear," said the employee. "Try it out."

Gohan held the instrument as the man instructed him to, and slowly dragged the bow across the violin. It made a whining noise.

'_It sounds like a human's wail,_' thought Gohan in mild surprise. '_So sad and distressed…not like the melodious hymn in my dream at all._'

"Oh, it's wonderful!" exclaimed Chichi. "So beautiful."

Gohan handed the violin back to the store employee. "No, it's not…right. I don't like it," he said.

"How about the cello?" the man suggested. Gohan shook his head.

"No." He scanned the aisle once more before something at the end caught his eye. He walked up toward it and ran his hand along its side.

"A piano…" he whispered. Gohan looked at the worker. "What's it doing here? I thought pianos were percussion instruments."

The man nodded. "Yes, you're right, but they're also string instruments," he lectured. "A piano is a hybrid instrument. It belongs in both categories."

'_A hybrid, huh?_' thought Gohan. '_Just like me._'

"It emits a smooth, harmonious sound that rings throughout the area. Classical and modern; perfect for music lovers all around," the man continued. "Would you like it?"

"Yes!" the half-breed hurriedly said. "It's perfect. I love it."

Chichi smiled. "Well, it's settled then!" she said. The staff member whipped out a pad and wrote some things on it. He and Chichi spoke for a while, discussing delivery and pick-up issues. After a while, Chichi turned to Gohan.

"Okay, sweetie, let's go home. The piano and music booklet will be mailed to us in about a week. Right now, we need to find you a tutor," she said. They left the building and, after calling Nimbus once more, headed home.

* * *

A week later, the piano found a comfortable spot in the Son's living room, the music booklet resting on the music desk of the instrument (or is it the music shelf?). This piano was simply for practicing at home; to be taught how to play, Gohan needed to go to the tutor's house. The half-breed was currently on his way to the teacher's house via bicycle, because his mother insisted on 'being normal' and 'making a good impression'. Gohan was more worried about what the tutor would be like than how he got there.

'_Hopefully mom didn't call another Mr. Shu_._' _ He shuddered at the thought of the terror tutor. Although it _was _his first time playing the instrument, he was pretty sure that he could self-teach himself like with all his other schoolwork. And he didn't want to brag, but he was pretty sure that he had a natural talent for playing it, despite his lack of practice. The hybrid's fingers were impatiently wiggling on the bike handles, wanting to play the piano without waiting for someone to teach it to him. Maybe it was just an excuse to avoid another tutor, but the little warrior truly thought that he could play perfectly fine without any help.

Soon, the tutor's house came into view. The house was small in size and quaint in personality. It was located near the city but still in the mountain range. Vaguely, Gohan wondered if his teacher was a martial artist; after all, most people in this area tended to either be farmers or martial artists, and the boy certainly didn't see any crops. After double checking the address, Gohan walked up to the front door and knocked. A couple of minutes passed but no one answered.

"Is anyone home?" he called out, knocking again. This time, someone answered the door. The man was wearing a blue and white long-sleeved traditional top and baggy red pants. His hair was brown and styled into an afro, and the man was wearing glasses. It seemed very familiar…

'_Oh crap! It's Mr. Shu!_'

"Why hello there…Goken, was it?" said Mr. Shu in his stupid accent. "What a pleasant surprise."

Gohan blinked twice and then—remembering the manners his mother had drilled into him—bowed respectfully, grinding his teeth together as he did so.

"Good morning, Mr. Shu," he said. The man simply stood and stared at him, a mischievous glint in his eye.

"Mmm, yes…," he eventually said, pushing up his glasses with one finger. He was clearly enjoying the respectful bow from Gohan. The Saiyan hybrid continued to bow, but then lifted his head and glared at the teacher.

"Aren't you going to let me in?" he asked accusingly. Mr. Shu stood still for a couple more minutes and then walked inside. Gohan followed him into what was seemingly the family room.

"So Goken, have you played the piano before?"

Gohan glared at him. "It's Gohan."

"Okay, Goken. Have you played before? Or did your abandonment issues get in the way? Mmm, yes, that brainless, brute father of yours never came back. Am I right?"

Another hard glare. Gohan clenched his fists to try to stop himself from shaking.

"Of course, I'm always right," Mr. Shu said, smirking when his pupil didn't retort back.

'_Hmm…it seems like that mother of his finally tamed his violent urges,_' he thought. The man walked over to the piano and took a seat next to it, gesturing to the piano stool.

"Come and sit. Oh, and control your anger issues; I wouldn't want you to break my piano," he said. Gohan, still clenching his fists, took a couple of deep breaths and took a seat on the stool.

'_It's just for an hour. I can survive. I just need to breathe. Inhale…exhale…inhale …_'

"Hello? Goken, are you listening? Hurry up and play! Do you want me to take out my whip?" yelled the terror tutor. Gohan let out a huge puff of breath as if he were a dragon breathing fire, and turned to glare at the teacher yet again.

"Gohan. "

"What?"

" My name is Gohan. _Gohan. _As in G-O-H-A-N. Gohan."

"Hmph, well…whatever you say, Goken. Just play the piano. Or would you rather be home waiting for your violent, deceitful, animal of a father to come back? Yes, those martial artists are all the same," he said, smirking. Gohan just 'hmphed' and brought his attention back to the piano, feeling the rage build up within him. His vision began to blur slowly and his energy steadily rose, but he didn't notice. All he could see behind his eyelids was the moment when Goku sacrificed himself during the Cell Games.

(Flashback)

**'****_Hey, you put up a good fight, Gohan. I'm proud of you._****'**

_(H-huh? What's he doing?)_

**'****_Take care of your mother for me. She needs you. Tell her I had to do this, Gohan._****'**

_(Take care…of mother? Please don't tell me you're going to do what I think you'll do.)_

**'****_Goodbye, my son._****'**

_(Daddy? DADDY? DAAAAADDDDYYY!)_

(End Flashback)

Pure rage. That's all Gohan knew. He was rage and rage was him.

"—you deaf? I told you to pl—"

Gohan whipped his head around, fire in his eyes.

"You want me to play? I'll play a song for you!" he gritted out through clenched teeth. The hybrid was seemingly about to slam his hands on the piano, and Mr. Shu braced himself for the impact. Surprisingly, it never came; instead, he found Gohan's fingers resting lightly on the piano keys, his face contorted in concentration, his eyes closed, and his jaw set in anger. All of a sudden, his eyes snapped open and he began to play the piano with a swift, controlled ferocity that he never knew he possessed.

(Insert piano version of "Gohan Angers" here)

The hybrid's stiff yet graceful fingers were flying across the piano unconsciously in perfect tune. The song he played was thick with anger and sadness, emotions that the terror tutor had never heard being played on the piano before. Surprisingly, the boy's eyes were glassy. When the song was finished, Gohan took a deep breath, his eyes coming back into focus. He blinked twice and looked at his hands in astonishment. Meanwhile, Mr. Shu was cowering back against the wall.

"W-w-what…? B-but that's not possible! You h-haven't played before!" he stuttered. Gohan ignored him.

"H-how…is it possible? Goken?"

Gohan got up and glared at his tutor.

"My _name _is _Gohan_, and my father is not a brute! He's a great man. Remember that!" His aura flared dangerously around him for a second before he headed for the door. Mr. Shu didn't bother to follow him; he'd seen enough.

The Saiyan half-breed stepped outside and straddled his bike, fixing his eyes on his hands on the handlebars.

_What happened?_' he thought. '_I thought that I had a talent, but…this is ridiculous! How is this even possible?_'

Planning on consulting Piccolo about it later, Gohan took off for home.

* * *

**Well, there you have it. Review, please! I love reviews. :D Constructive criticism is welcome.**


	3. Conflicts and Voices

**The Power Within **

**(Hey! Back with another chapter! This one took a little longer than it should have. Please bare with me, I'm getting to the interesting stuff soon. This chapter gives some clarity, I hope, but the other chapters will explain everything. Hang on, guys, and enjoy the chapter!)**

"What!? Mr. Shu!? When I called him, he told me his name was Mr. Luu! What a liar! I'm going to strangle him for hurting my baby's feelings! Why, I ought to—"

"Mom, it's okay! It's done now!"

"And crush him into the—"

"Forget it, mom!"

"And rip his intestines—"

"_Mom!_"

"Gohan! No yelling in the house!"

Gohan sighed in defeat. He'd come home and told his mother about the terror tutor expecting her to laugh, only to hear her immediately begin to yell and curse. He kept forgetting how feisty she could be when she was angry.

"Anyways, mom. I was wondering…" he began, twiddling his thumbs. Chichi, now done with her rambling, gave him her full attention.

"Yes, sweetie?"

"Can't I just learn at home?" he asked. "I'm pretty sure that like my other studies, with a lot of practice, I might be able to learn how to play eventually."

There. That was it. The hybrid felt guilty about lying through his teeth, but he didn't want to tell his mother what had happened at Mr. Shu's house. At least until he had a talk with Piccolo about it. How he was going to ask for permission to do so, he didn't know. Chichi was very sensitive when it came to visiting his mentor, and he didn't think he could handle another lecture right now.

As expected, Chichi smiled and said, "Of course you can. I don't want any more tutors corrupting my poor baby. You can learn under me." She put her hands on her hips. "But remember: aside from the piano lessons, you still have plenty of homework to do! So from now on, I'm going to be limiting your training sessions and your meetings with Piccolo."

Ouch. That wasn't expected.

"But _mom!_"

"But nothing!"

Gohan felt the pent-up anger from earlier slowly surface again, but he tried to push it down. "If I study all the time, how am I supposed to stay fit?" he whined. Chichi glared at him.

"Scholars don't double up as superheroes! Besides, I'm not going to prevent you from playtime entirely; you can play, but under _my _supervision. Understand?"

"Mom! I'm eleven years old! I think I'm old enough to have a say in my life," he snapped. Gohan had wanted to get that off of his chest for a while, and he felt a bit of satisfaction in doing so. From where that satisfaction came, he didn't know…nor did he care.

"Don't you dare talk back to me, mister!"

"Mom, please, listen to me! I need to—"

"You _need _to study, Gohan!"

Gohan had had enough. "If I don't train, how am I supposed to save the Earth? Dad did that, and he's _dead!_ Dead! That was dad's _dying wish_! What would he say to you if he saw you holding me back?"

Shock covered Chichi's face, followed by sadness, hurt, and grief. Suddenly, Gohan's rebellion didn't feel so good anymore. Tears filled his mother's eyes, and she bowed her head to cover them. A palpable tension filled the room. When Chichi finally spoke, her voice was like steel.

"Go to your room."

All of the fight left Gohan then, and he decided to obey his mother and quietly walked up the stairs to his room. He opened the door and collapsed on the bed, burrowing his face in the pillow.

'_Stupid tutor, stupid piano, stupid mother, stupid studies, stupid everything!_' he thought angrily, tightening his grip on the pillow. '_It's all their fault. I didn't do anything…did I? I'm innocent…aren't I!?_'

Mentally tired from his fight with his mother and his encounter with his former tutor, Gohan fell into a fitful sleep.

(In his dream)

**_SPLASH!_**

_Gohan fell into a huge puddle of…something, he couldn't tell. He groaned; now he was sopping wet, and his dream hadn't even begun. Sighing, he peeled himself off of the wet mud and stood. The hybrid looked around, expecting to see waterfalls, shining trees, chiming leaves, and hell, even a unicorn if things continued the way that they were going. What he saw, though, was unlike anything that he had ever thought._

'_W-what!?_' _he gasped._

_Everything was black. The water was black, the trees were black, the leaves were black, even the clouds were black. The entire place was silent, a huge change from the beautiful music that used to play when he came to this dream world. The scariest thing, though, was the colour of the sky._

_Red. Blood red._

_Gohan—on instinct—immediately glanced down at his wet clothes, only to realize that they were soaked in blood. He shuddered and looked around again, feeling a sense of danger in the area. But…there wasn't any danger in sight, aside from the strange scenery. Gohan was confused and scared; what was with the change of environment, and why did he feel this way?_

_Suddenly, an eerie laugh began to fill the area. It was nothing like the happy, teasing laughter that he used to hear. Gohan growled._

'_Who's there!?_' _he asked. _

_The laughter rose quickly in volume. Gohan put his hands on his ears and stumbled forward. It felt like it was suffocating him, pressing in on all sides. He felt as if he couldn't breathe anymore._

'_S-stop it!_' _Gohan called desperately. The laughter increased. Black dots swirled in front of his eyes from lack of oxygen and he feared that he would faint. Just before the darkness overtook him, however, he heard a sentence from a voice that sent chills up his spine._

_"Hello, Gohan." _

**"AUGH!"**

Gohan woke up in a sweat, his sheets tangled around him. With a start, he realized that he had fallen asleep in his day clothes and shoes. Now wide awake, the hybrid glanced at his clock. The time 7:00pm glared at him, seemingly accusing him of wrongdoing.

'_Whoa…I've been out for 4 hours…what a nap,_' he thought, sitting up in bed. Gohan sighed and rubbed his temples. He could still hear the laughter that had plagued his dream.

'_What _was _that?' _

He sat in bed for a couple of minutes, trying to make sense of his wild dream. He now knew that these dreams weren't something that he could just ignore. And that one voice…

_Hello, Gohan…_

He shuddered, hoping it wasn't a ghost or something. Gohan suddenly remembered the fight he had with his mother, and decided to go apologize to her. The black-haired boy got up to change, readying himself for the lecture he was sure to receive when he went downstairs.

* * *

Chichi busied herself with chores, as she was known for when she was tense; it helped her to relieve stress. As she threw another broken dish in the trash, her thoughts drifted back to what her son had said to her earlier.

'_He's _**dead!****Dead!**_ That was dad's _**dying wish!** _What would he say to you if he saw you holding me back?_'

She tried to hold back another fresh batch of tears. Goku was gone, and she knew that; Chichi just couldn't handle as easily as the other Z-Fighters had. She also knew that although Goku had told Gohan to protect the Earth, the young boy couldn't replace his father. Why couldn't Gohan see that? Chichi broke another dish and sighed.

'_I'm going to get wrinkles if I keep worrying myself to death like this,_' she thought, tossing it away. No matter how hard she tried to convince herself otherwise, though, Gohan's words had stung her a lot. Footsteps suddenly broke her out of her trance.

Speak of the devil.

Gohan entered the kitchen, a sheepish look on his face. He walked up to his mother and bowed his head. Chichi turned off the tap, dried her hands, and turned to face her son. They both waited for the other to say something, until finally Gohan spoke up.

"I…" he began, fiddling with his shirt. "I'm sorry."

Despite her anger at his behaviour earlier, Chichi took a step forward and enveloped him in a hug. Gohan looked up at her.

"Y-you're not…mad at me?" he asked. Chichi gave him a small smile.

"Oh, honey…I should have known that you wouldn't stop training. Even if I put those limits on you, you'd eventually find a way to go visit Piccolo and train. It was silly of me to think that you'd just drop everything and obey me. And for that, I'm sorry," she said, kissing him on the forehead. Gohan left the hug and stared at her.

"What are you saying, mom? It's my fault. I shouldn't have yelled at you," he said. Why wouldn't she let him take the blame? Chichi just laughed.

"You were right about what you said earlier. You're a big kid now; no matter how hard I try to convince myself that you're my little baby, you've matured. But I accept your apology." She turned back to the sink and rolled up her sleeves again. "Now, I want you to practice some piano and finish your math homework; you can visit Piccolo when you're done."

Surprise covered Gohan's face. "What? Really?" Suddenly in a good mood, he jumped in the air and pumped his fist. "Yeah! Thanks mom! I'll get right on it!" He ran out of the room to get on his homework, looking forward to visiting his teacher. Chichi smiled and soaped up another dish.

'_Oh Goku…I wish you could see your son now. He's grown so much,_' she thought, turning on the tap.

* * *

A while later, when Gohan was done his math homework, he walked into the living room and sat on the piano stool. The hybrid numbly flipped through the music sheets before closing the book and sighing; he didn't really feel like learning any notes. Instead, he placed his fingers on the keys and closed his eyes, hoping another miracle would surface.

'_C'mon, Gohan, you can do it! Just think of a song…_' he thought to himself, closing his eyes. A calm melody made its way into his head and he wasted no time moving his fingers to the tune. A beautiful song emitted from the piano, and Gohan smiled. It seems like he'd gotten control of his songs already. His mother was taking a well-deserved nap, so the black-haired boy didn't think she heard him playing. He was grateful for that, as he didn't want to have to explain why he could play so well; he didn't think he could explain it himself.

Gohan's fingers flew left and right of the keys, and he realized with a start that this was the most relaxed he'd ever felt since his father's death. He could slowly feel his energy levelling out, a big change from the jumpy energy he used to have after his transformation to Super Saiyan Two. After his transformation, Piccolo had noticed that Gohan's energy always spiked at random moments: when he was sad, when he was mad, and when he was frustrated. He'd constantly talked Gohan into meditating to control that energy, and when that didn't work, sparring. They'd tried everything but his energy hadn't calmed down. Now, though, playing a simple song was doing what Piccolo and Gohan had tried but failed to do. It was giving him a peace of mind and controlling his energy.

The half-Saiyan's song finally came to an end, and he sighed contently. Opening his eyes, he got off the piano stool and headed to his room to change. He had to go see Piccolo about this.

* * *

As usual, Piccolo was meditating by his waterfall. There was an aura of concentration about him, yet his face showed no contortions. Gohan landed behind a bush, trying to sneak up on him, but before he could jump out and scare his teacher Piccolo called out.

"You know I can sense you, right?"

'_Darn,_' thought Gohan, walking into Piccolo's view. He'd really tried to suppress his energy that time. Piccolo opened one eye and smirked at him. Gohan smiled back.

"Hi! How was your meditation?" he asked. Piccolo closed his eyes again.

"Great, until you interrupted it," he replied coolly. The hybrid floated up beside Piccolo and sat cross-legged in the air, imitating his mentor's pose.

"Can I meditate, too?"

Piccolo gave a small nod, and Gohan closed his eyes and began his meditation.

* * *

"Hey, Piccolo?"

"…"

"Piccolo."

"…"

"_Piccolo_—"

"Damn it, Gohan, you interrupted my meditation _again_!"

Gohan broke his meditation and stood. "Sorry. It's just that I have something on my mind."

"What's that?" Piccolo asked.

"Well, it's about my energy…"

Piccolo sighed and broke his own meditation. "Kid, you're going to be the end of me," he said. Gohan just laughed nervously and sat on a rock by the waterfall's edge. Piccolo sat down beside him and crossed his arms.

"Okay, now what's this about your energy?" he asked. Gohan sighed.

"Um, you know how we tried everything to get my energy to even out?"

Piccolo nodded and instinctively began to sense out Gohan's energy level. Surprisingly, it was…calm. "Yes?"

"And if you sense it now, you can feel that it's even, right?"

"Yes?" he said again. Piccolo had a good idea where this was going.

"Well, it became like that when…"

* * *

"…and that's the whole story."

Silence befell the two. Gohan had told Piccolo everything except for the voice he'd heard at the end of his third dream. Piccolo sat in thought for a while and then spoke.

"And this is a problem…because?"

Gohan frowned. "I don't know how this happened! And the dreams…I just don't understand."

The Namekian thought some more. "It could be that your dreams are trying to tell you a way to control your energy. You say that the music you heard beckoned to you, right? It may be your body's way of telling you to play the piano. Seems like it helps." He gazed at the sky. "And that other dream of yours..." He looked back at Gohan. "That may just be a representation of the anger you felt today, warning you to watch your energy."

Gohan was surprised. He'd never thought of it that way.

"Hey, thanks, Mr. Piccolo!" he said, getting up. Piccolo smiled a genuine smile.

"You haven't called me that in a while."

"Huh?" Gohan asked, confused. "Oh, Mr.? Heh, old habits die hard."

He gave a final wave to his mentor and took off for home, since it was getting late. Piccolo, since he was never expected to, didn't wave back. He sat on the ground, troubling thoughts entering his mind. Although Gohan hadn't told him about the last part of his dream, Piccolo had snuck into his mind when he wasn't paying attention and derived that little tidbit of information. He didn't tell Gohan, though; it would have troubled him. The Namekian decided to keep a closer eye on his pupil from now on.

'_I won't let anything hurt you kid, I promise,_' he thought, returning to his meditation.

* * *

**Well, there you have it! Ooh, who's that strange voice in Gohan's dream? You'll find out soon! Review please!**


	4. The Change

**The Power Within**

**Hey guys! After a ****_LONG _****time, I'm finally back with an update! Sorry for the wait...I was bombarded and buried in countless assignments, tests, and presentations, plus a bout of writer's block. But I'm here! And that's all that matters. Please be patient with updates, too. Lastly, I've solidified my plot, so you don't have to worry about me abandoning this (really!). Anyways, as always, enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

2 months had passed since Gohan visited Piccolo for advice. His weird dreams had surprisingly ceased after about a month of piano playing and he felt more relaxed than he had ever been. The relaxation definitely showed in his daily life; he was no longer angry about studying—in fact he enjoyed it—and he was more open to his mother's decisions on his education. He smiled more, he laughed more, he played more, and he came to accept his father's decision of staying in otherworld. Gohan had also told his mother about his strange piano talent, which she accepted right away as she thought (knew?) that he was a child prodigy. This was just as well, as they hybrid didn't want to explain anything to her.

Piccolo, true to his word, kept a close eye on his pupil's energy levels. It was what he was doing currently by his waterfall that day, when he noticed a sudden spike of negative energy entwined in Gohan's own positive energy. As suddenly as it came, though, it vanished.

'_What _was _that?_' Piccolo thought, snapping his eyes open. He looked in the direction of the Son house and concentrated. Still, he felt nothing. '_It felt so…evil._'

The Namekian frowned. He would have a talk with the boy later. For now, it was back to meditating.

Meanwhile, in otherworld, King Kai looked upon the planet with worry gracing his features.

'_Earth Is heading for a dark time,_' he thought, light dramatically glinting off of his glasses.

* * *

"Gohan, wake up, breakfast is ready!"

"I'm coming, mom!"

Gohan ran down the stairs and jumped into the kitchen, a huge smile on his face. Chichi laughed; his good mood was contagious. She served him breakfast and they sat down to eat. When Gohan finished eating, he got up.

"Thanks! That was good!" he exclaimed. "I'm going to do my homework now."

"Oh, Piccolo stopped by," Chichi said, gathering the dishes. "Normally I would yell at him and shoo him away, but I'm in a good mood today, and you've been working so hard." She put the dishes in the sink and rolled up her sleeves. "You can go see him if you wish."

Gohan gasped. "Really!? Cool! I'll go change!"

The half-breed Saiyan ran up to his room and threw on his favourite purple gi. Before he ran out the door of his room, he caught a glimpse of something in the mirror. It looked like a shadow of some sort. But that was strange; why would there be a shadow in the morning, when the sun was bright and shining?

'_I must be seeing things_,' he thought, shrugging it off and running out.

"Bye mom!"

* * *

"You're lacking in your training."

Gohan stood in front of Piccolo, his head hung in shame.

"Y-yeah, I know. But I've been training my mind, and—"

"Training your mind is not training your body. Your energy is steady now but have you tried using it in combat?"

"No, b-but…I've been busy studying."

Silence. Then, "When was the last time you went Super Saiyan?"

Gohan didn't reply. Piccolo frowned.

"Well?" he pushed.

"Uh, yesterday?"

The Namekian became cross. "Don't get smart with me, Gohan. You haven't been a Super Saiyan since the Cell Games, have you?" he questioned. Gohan smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of his head.

"Yeah, well…no," he said. His smile dropped. "Why? The Earth isn't in any danger, is it?"

Piccolo hesitated, which made Gohan anxious. Finally, he spoke.

"No, it isn't. But we need to be ready for anything that comes our way, and you're the strongest of all of us right now," he lectured. "Spar with me."

"What?"

"Spar with me," he repeated, falling into position. Gohan followed suit, albeit a bit nervously.

"Um, okay," he said, then smirked. "I'll be sure not to hit you too hard," he said. Piccolo smirked as well.

"Don't count on it," he replied coolly, and lunged forward.

The two sparred for about an hour until a particularly rough punch from Gohan brought the fight to a pause as Piccolo stopped to breathe.

"Ah, Mr. Piccolo! Are…are you okay!?" Gohan asked, running up to his mentor. Piccolo tried to slow his breathing.

"S-sure, kid…just fine…was just caught off guard for a second, that's all," he said, sitting down on a rock. Gohan powered down and sat on the ground beside him. They rested for a bit before Piccolo got back to his feet.

"Alright, Gohan, now I want you to go Super Saiyan 2."

Gohan gaped at him. "W-what? B-but Mr. Piccolo—"

"But nothing! Get to your feet and transform," he barked, crossing his arms. Gohan stood, feeling small. He could sense a rushed and worried aura around Piccolo, as if there was an enemy around the corner and they needed to act fast.

'_Geez,_' Gohan thought. '_He's acting as if there's an enemy lurking in the shadows, just waiting to pounce on us._'

"Piccolo, I can't do it."

A frown. "What? Of course you can."

"I don't know if I can."

Piccolo growled. "Goddammit, Gohan, just transform already!"

Used to the bluntness and rudeness of Piccolo's personality, Gohan sighed and complied. "Okay."

He spread his feet and clenched his fists. Letting out a yell, he transformed to Super Saiyan 1 easily and swiftly. Piccolo smirked.

"That's it, Gohan! Keep going!'

Encouraged by his teacher's words, Gohan continued to yell. Eventually, his muscles bulged and he grew slightly taller.

**'****_Gohan…_****'**

Piccolo felt the same spike of negative energy he felt before, only this time it was rising along with Gohan's energy.

"W-wait, Gohan!" he yelled, afraid of the rate the bad energy was rising.

It was too late. With a final yell, Gohan's hair spiked up and his eyes turned a strange turquoise different from the blue of SSJ1. When the smoke cleared, he stood there with a nonchalant look on his face. Piccolo just stared at him, feeling the negative energy rise at an alarming rate. A few minutes later, Gohan smiled. It was peculiar.

"I did it, Piccolo. Can't you see?" he said, unmoving. He didn't even blink. The Namekian took a cautious step forward.

"Are you okay, kid?" he asked, fear leaking into his voice despite his effort to mask it. Gohan's smile grew.

"Of course. Why wouldn't I be? I did it."

Piccolo took another step forward but didn't let his guard down. He got a strange feeling in his gut that usually indicated that something was going to happen. Gohan laughed, but it wasn't a happy laugh. It was the laugh of a mad man.

"I did it," he repeated. His laughter grew, and soon he was clutching his stomach. Piccolo frowned.

"What's so funny?" he asked. Gohan continued to laugh loudly.

"I did it!"

** '****_Gohan…_****'**

"Gohan, power down," the Namekian commanded slowly. The laughter stopped abruptly.

"No."

"Power down, kid. We'll continue this tomorrow. Lesson over."

Gohan's eyes held a wild glint. "I said no. Besides, I'm stronger than you."

"That's irrelevant."

"No."

"Gohan."

"_No._"

"Gohan!"

"I SAID NO!"

He began laughing again, and this time the negative energy grew so high that it enveloped Gohan's own energy signal. Piccolo immediately powered up and moved behind Gohan, his clenched hands poised above his head. Just as he was about to bring his fists down and knock him out, Gohan caught them. His laughter ceased again.

"What are you doing?" he asked, a mocking tone in his voice that suggested that he thought very highly of himself. The Namekian tried to jerk his hands away but to no avail.

"Let go, kid," he said. The hybrid let him go, but didn't turn around.

"I'm stronger than you," he stated. Piccolo frowned.

"Yes, you are," he agreed. This seemed to make Gohan happy. The edge of his mouth moved upward in a sort of half-smile.

"All of this power certainly is refreshing," he said. "I've been waiting for this for a long time."

Piccolo was confused.

"What?"

Gohan turned around. "What do you say we…test out this new power? Killing some innocent life would certainly be sufficient, no?" he asked, smirking. "It's not like they're going to lose anything valuable."

He frowned and tried to dig into his pupil's mind, sensing nothing but evil. "Gohan, enough. This is crazy. This isn't you."

Gohan took a step forward.

"Your mind is lost in shadow," he continued

The hybrid laughed. "You'd be surprised at how true that statement is, my friend," he said, taking another step forward just as Piccolo moved back and growled. Suddenly, Gohan stopped and frowned. His eyebrows contorted into an expression of confusion, and then he smiled that peculiar smile again and raised his hands in the sky. Piccolo dropped into his fighting stance, but was unprepared for what happened next. Gohan, in one quick move, shot energy out of his hands in an attack that closely resembled Vegeta's big bang attack. Piccolo was blown out of the way and landed roughly on the ground a ways back. When the smoke cleared, the Namekian couldn't believe what he saw.

The entire forest had been blown away. Dozens of animals were strewn around, missing limbs. It was clear that they were dead, the burn marks and the blood being enough proof for that. The lake evaporated from the heat of the blast, and the ground was bare, stripped of grass. Gohan stared at the carnage, his face blank.

"They're dead," he said simply, showing no sign of remorse for his actions. Piccolo jumped up and growled.

"The hell they are! What's wrong with you!?"

Gohan turned to face him, opened his mouth to say something, then closed it again. He seemed a bit dizzy, as he was swaying a little bit. Suddenly, his hair turned black and his eyes rolled into the back of his head. Piccolo caught him before he hit the ground. Just as he reverted fully back to his base form, Piccolo tried to sense out the evil energy signal; nothing. It was gone, replaced by the positive energy he was familiar with. He picked his student up and stared at him.

"Gohan…" he said, shaking him a bit. When he didn't move, the Namekian took a last look at the destroyed forest and flew off to the Son's house.

'_What the hell was that?_" he thought, letting out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. He'd been more scared than he'd let on.

'_This is getting ridiculous. I brought him here to get some answers and all I get are more questions. Something's going on, and I won't stop until I found out what it is._'

With that thought in mind, Piccolo sped up. He had to return the boy home first.

* * *

Gohan woke up and stretched. Yawning, he checked the time, and immediately snapped awake.

'_3:00 am!? How long was I out?_' he thought, running a hand through his disheveled hair. Gohan got up and stretched again, choosing to take a walk to get rid of the foggy cloud in his head. He quietly opened his windows and snuck out into the night, hoping his mother didn't hear him. This little escapade would definitely cost him his Piccolo-visiting privileges. He wrinkled his nose at the thought; his mother would dump his studies on him if she knew he was leaving. No, she couldn't find out. Once outside, the hybrid broke into a run.

'_Ah, it feels good to have cool, fresh air on my skin!_' he thought happily. The scenery blurred past his vision and the wind whipped through his hair as he ran with no particular destination in mind. The nocturnal animals were up and about, minding their own business, and the forest was quiet and calm, as if it knew not to disturb the sleeping people. It was a serene scene. After covering a good distance of dense forestry, Gohan entered a large clearing. A river sparkled in the moonlight, beckoning to him. The hybrid gladly bent down for a drink to quench his thirst. Cupping his hands together, he dipped his hands in the water and held the cool drink to his lips, savoring every blue drop.

'_That's much better…,_' he thought, wiping his lips. A gust of wind blew past Gohan, making him shiver from the cold as he was still in his pajamas. It was strange; did the wind get this cold in the summer? A familiar voice jolted Gohan out of his thoughts. It was a voice that made his blood run cold.

"Hello, Gohan."

He whipped around, seeing no one. A vague sense of déjà vu hit him, and he suddenly realized that this was almost exactly like his dream.

"I-I know you!" he yelled out into the dark forest. "You're in my dream! I've heard you before!"

Laughter. Then, "I see you recognize me, my friend."

Gohan fell into his fighting position and silently hoped that Piccolo would come, as the Namekian never slept. "I do. Now come out and fight me!"

"I'm over here."

He whipped around again. No one.

"Enough of these games! Come out!" he demanded, his head turning to look in every direction.

"I'm out."

Gohan peered into the darkness and saw nothing. He looked closer, and closer, until he noticed something peculiar. There were no trees. There was nothing. Just darkness.

'_Where'd everything go?_' he thought, confused. '_It must be an illusion._'

"No illusion, my friend. Look in front of you," the…_thing _said. Gohan peered harder and saw two red lights evenly spaced out from one another.

'_It's definitely a creature of some sort,_' he decided. Then, he kept staring. '_Wait, no…_'

He was staring into eyes.

Gohan stumbled back and fell, alarmed. His heart was racing and he tried to slow down his breathing.

"W-what…are you!?" he asked, anger and fear slowly replacing the shock. "Answer me!"

It chuckled and slowly walked closer to Gohan. "You do not know? Surely you would know me," it said, its voice steady and calm. "I'm a part of you."

"You're lying!" Gohan blurted out immediately. "I don't know you, I haven't met you, I haven't seen you…I have no idea who you are!" he yelled.

It smirked, which was strange as it didn't seem to have a definite mouth or any definite features other than the red eyes.

"Here's a little something you should know, my dear Gohan. Have you ever experienced…insanity?"

"What? Insanity?" Gohan repeated. "No, I'm sane."

The creature chuckled again. "You say that as if you're sure of it."

"I'm sure!" Gohan exclaimed. "Now tell me what you're here for!"

"But how can you be sure?" it asked. "You must be insane to think that." It laughed at its own joke. Gohan, getting impatient, stepped forward and clenched his fists.

'_What does he intend to do?_' Gohan thought, a drop of sweat dripping off of his chin. "I can assure you that I'm perfectly sane. Now I'd like to ask you some questions of my own. Who are you? And what do you want?" he asked irritably.

The creature ignored his questions again. "A man who is "of sound mind" is one who keeps the inner madman under lock and key **(Paul Valéry)**," it said. "I will ask again: how can you be sure that you are sane?"

Gohan stared at it, confused and speechless. He didn't have anything to say to that.

"Embrace your insanity, my friend, for it is that which will ultimately be your salvation," it continued. "You have the key; all you have to do is open the lock, and you will have everything you ever need. All of the solutions, all of the answers."

It smirked.

"Embrace it."

"Embrace it," Gohan repeated, mesmerized by its words. Then, he shook his head and took a step back. "No! What am I doing…?"

The creature's smirk never dropped. "My time is up. Till next time, my friend."

Gohan's eyes widened. "A-ah, no! Wait!"

Too late. It was gone.

The half-breed collapsed to his knees, sweating and breathing hard.

'_Who was that? _What _was that?_' he thought, running a hand through his hair. '_A…part of me? Why was it talking about insanity? I'm not insane…but, why were its words so mesmerizing?_'

He crawled back towards the river and splashed water on his face, the moonlight shining off of the droplets that fell. Then, a sudden realization hit him.

'_Where was Piccolo?_'

Gohan's head began to spin, and he decided to head on home. After all, he didn't want his mother to worry about him.

* * *

**Well, there you have it! I hope you enjoyed. Now, what is this creature? What are its motives? What will Gohan do? All in the chapters to come! :D**


	5. The Second Change

**The Power Within**

**Hello, readers! Here's another chapter. It's a little short, so sorry about that, hehe. Taking your advice, I've made Gohan grow like a normal boy (that is, I've made him more mature...or, at least I hope I did). The intriuge is increasing in this chapter, and there is some conflict as well. Enjoy!**

* * *

"Here you go, girls! Tea is ready!"

"Thanks, mom."

"No problem, sweetie. Call me if you need anything!"

After setting down the tray of decorative pastries and tea, Bulma's mother left. Bulma turned back to Chichi, who had been angry that morning.

"Can you believe it?" Chichi asked, taking a sip of her tea. "He thinks I'm oblivious to his escapades, but I'm not. I heard him sneak back into the house at 5:00 am!"

Bulma picked up a delicious strawberry-topped cheesecake from the tray and took a bite. "Maybe he's just growing up," she suggested. Chichi shook her head.

"No, he's always done this before, but never in the night." She buried her face in her hands. "When did my little boy become a rebel!?"

"Oh, speaking of which…where is he?" Bulma asked. The housewife lifted her head from her hands to glare at the door.

"Out visiting _Piccolo_," she said. "I mean, hasn't he had enough of that alien last night?"

"He snuck out to see him?"

"That's usually what he does, so I'm assuming that that's where he went."

"Oh."

They were silent for a couple of minutes, alternating between sips of tea and bites of cakes. Soon, Trunks' cries could be heard in the back, and Bulma excused herself.

"Sorry, Chichi. I'm going to go see what he wants," she said tiredly. Chichi nodded.

Bulma left and strode down the hall angrily, already knowing the cause of her son's cries. When she threw open the door to Trunks' room, she surveyed the sight in front of her with growing anger. Trunks' colourful toy blocks were spilled across the room and a broken tower lay in a heap in the middle. Beside the heap of blocks was Vegeta's foot, clearly indicating that he'd knocked down the tower. The Saiyan prince simply glared at Trunks, seemingly hoping that the glare would be enough to shut the bawling child up, but it wasn't working. Trunks, on the other hand, was screaming and crying and throwing blocks on the ground.

"_Vegeta!_" Bulma screamed, running up to her son and picking him up with the gentleness of a mother. "There, there." She turned to glare at Vegeta. "What in the world is _wrong _with you!? Knocking down a child's tower…I mean, honestly!"

"It wasn't _my _fault," he mumbled under his breath. "The child needs to learn some discipline."

"Discipline!?" Bulma screeched. "You're the one that needs discipline! _Ugh!_"

Vegeta stood up angrily. "Me!? How about you!? Stupid harpy!"

"Harpy!? Why, you stupid little—"

"Well, you shouldn't be talking! You annoying—"

"_Waa! Waa!_"

"Vegeta, look at what you did! You made Trunks cry! _Again!_"

Bulma took to soothing the baby while Vegeta scowled and turned away. Soon, Trunks dozed off, the exhaustion of crying finally getting to him. Bulma suddenly remembered Chichi in the living room and got up.

"I'm going to put Trunks in his crib," she said to Vegeta, who didn't seem to be listening. "I don't want you to wake him, otherwise you're not getting dinner."

She turned and left without another word. Vegeta's scowl deepened, only one thought plaguing his mind.

'_Kakkarot…why did you have to die?_'

* * *

Gohan flew slowly to Capsule Corporation, disturbed and saddened. His visit with Piccolo was still fresh in his mind.

"_I forbid you from going Super Saiyan 2."_

"_What? But why? I need to train that form to gain more power. You told me so yourself. "_

"_Forget what I said. I don't want to see you in that form ever again."_

"_But Piccolo—"_

"_Never. Again. Is that clear!?"_

The half-Saiyan sighed. His teacher's words still confused him. What had happened when he entered that form? No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't remember. It must have been something bad if Piccolo wouldn't let him transform again.

'_He's been really disturbed lately,_' thought Gohan, frowning. '_He's been yelling more than he used to. It's an enemy, I can feel it. But why isn't he telling anyone? He's risking our safety by keeping this to himself!_'

Gohan's frown deepened. '_Piccolo's changed._'

With that cheery thought in mind, the hybrid picked up his pace and sped off to Bulma's house. Because of his speed, he managed to reach the building in under 2 minutes. He tapped down right in front of the door and rang the bell. It was his mother who opened the door.

"Gohan! You're late!" she scolded, wagging her finger at him. When he didn't reply, Chichi sighed and gestured for him to come in. The black-haired boy entered the living room quietly and plopped himself down on one of the white couches. His mother, noticing his down mood, walked over to him and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Is something wrong, honey?" she asked softly. Gohan averted his eyes.

"I'm fine," he said firmly, silently hoping she wouldn't pry further. Last thing he needed was for her to say "I told you so!" in his face if he tells her that it was who Piccolo hurt his feelings. Gohan really didn't need that right now.

Just as he hoped, Chichi simply gave him a look of doubt and sat down on the other couch, not pushing the subject. Bulma walked in then and smiled at Gohan.

"Hey, kiddo, how've you been? It sure has been a while," she greeted cheerfully, sitting across from Chichi. "Help yourself to some cakes. Do you want my mom to make you some tea?"

The young half-breed shook his head. "No, thank you," he replied politely, brushing a stray bang away from his face. Getting up suddenly, he asked, "Where's Vegeta?"

"Oh, him?" Bulma asked, eyebrow twitching. "He's sulking in the other room." Her features softened a bit. "That man hasn't really been himself ever since he stopped fighting. Poor guy. I know he's frustrated because of Goku's…" She stopped herself to scan Chichi's face, and then continued. "passing, but the least he could do is train to let his frustrations out."

"I could go see if he wants to spar," Gohan offered. He'd been slacking on his training recently and needed the boost, but that wasn't the real reason he wanted to spar with the prince. Gohan wanted to turn Super Saiyan 2 and see what scared Piccolo so badly. For some reason, he had a strong desire to prove the Namekian wrong.

"I think that would help," Bulma said. "But try telling that to him. You'd be lucky if you could get it in his thick skull. He's in the playroom, I think."

Gohan thanked Bulma and trotted down the hall to the playroom. Once there, he opened the door and peered in. There sat Vegeta, looking out the window with a small scowl on his face. The hybrid, thinking that the prince hadn't seen him, entered the room quietly as to not disturb him.

"Do you think I'm stupid? Get out of here," Vegeta snapped, still gazing out of the window. Gohan flinched slightly but didn't leave.

"I want to spar," he said. "I know you need one, too."

Vegeta glared at him. "No, I don't. Now go away." His face betrayed his thoughts, though, for his eyes held a slight longing in them. Gohan took this to his advantage.

"You're a full-blooded Saiyan, Vegeta. You can't just stop fighting," Gohan said, stepping forward. "Think about it. Moving swiftly to block a kick, returning your own punch, the feeling of contact, the thrill of the fight, the—"

"_Shut up!_" Vegeta barked, getting up. "If you don't get out right now, I'll blast you out!"

"See? You want to fight!" Gohan continued, a bit afraid of what Vegeta would do. "Don't you want to let your frustrations out?"

Silence ensued. Then, "You want a spar? I'll give you a spar. This will be one spar that you're going to regret!"

Gohan swallowed hard. '_I wonder if this was such a good idea,_' he thought. Then, he remembered Piccolo's words.

_I forbid you from going Super Saiyan 2._

'_Nope, it was a great idea._'

Vegeta pushed past Gohan and headed out of the room. Gohan followed.

"We're sparring outside," Vegeta said flatly, all signs of his earlier anger gone. "The gravity room is broken."

The hybrid nodded. Once outside and far from the house, both opponents stretched for the fight.

"You're going to regret bothering me, brat," said Vegeta, falling into his fighting stance. Gohan followed suit.

"We'll see," he said, and charged.

* * *

The fight went on for some time, both Vegeta and Gohan fighting in base form to further their stretch and warm up. It reached a point where they both broke away from each other for a small breather. Vegeta smirked.

"It seems you haven't ceased your training," he said.

"Same to you," Gohan replied. "Although I'm still a bit stronger."

The Saiyan prince's smirk faltered, then deepened.

"We'll see if you're still cocky after this!"

In one swift move, Vegeta became a Super Saiyan. His face was gleaming with pride and his stance was a boastful one, clearly screaming "I'm the best!" Gohan adjusted his own stance and began to power up.

'_I just need to go Super Saiyan; from there, I'll push myself to Super Saiyan 2, and nothing will go wrong,_' he thought. Just as swiftly as Vegeta, the half-breed went Super Saiyan.

Inside him, something snapped.

'_**Gohan…**_**'**

Elsewhere, Piccolo's head snapped up. He became angered when he realized what had awoken him from his meditation.

'_Dammit! I told him not to go Super Saiyan 2! That fool!_'

He sped off towards Capsule Corp., ready to stop Gohan.

Back at CC, Vegeta gawked at Gohan, who was uncharacteristically smirking and staring at his hands.

"What a weakling," he said, looking himself over. "I'm in Super Saiyan now." The smug look on his face angered Vegeta, who growled and clenched his fists.

"Who are you calling a weakling, brat!?" he yelled, stepping forward and throwing a punch at Gohan. Gohan dodged it easily.

"That was fast…," the half-breed said, deep in thought. "This is going better than I expected."

His words caused the prince's anger to rise. "The hell it is!"

Vegeta continued to throw punches and kicks. Gohan, without thinking, calmly dodged Vegeta's every attack. Of course, this angered Vegeta even more.

'_He's only in Super Saiyan and he's beating me!_' he thought, sweat building on his forehead. '_And that's besides the fact that he can go Super Saiyan 2…DAMMIT!_'

Meanwhile, Gohan was thinking other thoughts. '_This is good…I'm getting stronger every day. At this rate, I'll be out of here soon._'

Vegeta caught Gohan distracted and immediately took the chance. He twisted his body around and landed a vicious punch square on Gohan's cheek. Gohan's head was pushed back, and he frowned at Vegeta.

"W-what? I put everything I had into that punch!" Vegeta yelled, taking a step back. The young Super Saiyan took a step forward.

"Vegeta…," he began, staring at the prince with an irritated look on his face. "You're a nuisance. I'm going to have to get rid of you."

"What!?"

Vegeta didn't see what hit him.

* * *

"There!"

Piccolo quickly touched down on the bright Capsule Corp. lawn and scanned the area. The large house was the image of normalcy; that is, there didn't seem to be anything out of place.

'_Hmm…_' Piccolo thought to himself. '_I could have sworn I felt…_'

A rapidly draining power level suddenly assaulted his senses like lightning.

'_Vegeta!_'

The Namekian wasted no time rushing off to find the Saiyan prince. He soon located an unnatural clearing in the middle of the forest, as if it had been blown away by some powerful force. Piccolo abruptly remembered Gohan doing the same thing and snarled. The boy was an enigma in his own right, but this was going way too far. He landed and surveyed the area.

"Vegeta!" he yelled, walking around. "Where are you!?" He held no concern for the man as he knew he could hold his own; rather, the Namekian needed answers, and Vegeta might have them.

He hoped he did.

A few seconds passed in dead silence, until finally someone spoke up.

"G-g-g-go…away, s-stupid…N-namekian!"

Piccolo quickly located the source of the noise. He found Vegeta sprawled in a small crater in the ground covered in blood, cuts, and bruises. He stood over him and crossed his arms.

Before he could stop himself, Piccolo said, "You look like crap."

Vegeta chuckled, causing him to cough up a small amount of blood. "Heh…t-this is nothing…"

Piccolo offered his hand, which Vegeta rudely rejected.

"I-I-I don't…n-need your help!" he barked hoarsely. The Namekian pulled it back.

"Fine, keep laying there in the ditch with your face in the mud. See if I care," he snapped angrily. Then, in a slightly softer tone, "Where did Gohan go?"

Shame flashed across Vegeta's features for a millisecond, but was then replaced with a scowl. "Damn b-brat ran away. Coward knew he c-couldn't win."

They glared at each other for a couple of seconds, before Piccolo growled.

"What exactly happened here?" he demanded. Vegeta turned his head away.

"And why should I tell you?" he said stubbornly, voice smoothing out. "It is of no concern to you."

The Namekian's energy rose. '_Vegeta's getting on my nerves!_'

"Just tell me before you rot into the ground, Vegeta! I don't have all day!" he shouted, clenching his fists. Vegeta chuckled.

"Bite me."

That was it.

Piccolo strode right up to the prince and grabbed him by the front of his torn, blue spandex, anger and frustration pouring off of him in powerful bursts of energy. He put his face right up to Vegeta's and snarled, showing off his sharp fangs.

"What the hell happened here!?" he growled through clenched teeth. Vegeta returned the glare.

"Get the hell off of me," he growled, jerking away. "I'll tell you. Kid went Super Saiyan and almost blew my head off." He managed to stand up and winced when he felt a cut on his leg re-open.

"What? Super Saiyan?" Piccolo inquired, confused. "He wasn't a Super Saiyan 2?"

Vegeta 'hmphed'. "Don't remind me," he hissed, brushing some dirt off of his cracked armour. "He was cocky and over-confident, unlike him at all. Seems like the soft-hearted brat has some Saiyan in him after all."

Piccolo frowned. '_Gohan…cocky and over-confident? Not to mention the fact that he was a Super Saiyan…_'

His frown deepened. '_Gohan's changed._'

He suddenly remembered something.

'_Wait…could that strange voice in Gohan's dream be causing this?_'

"Fine, then, don't answer me. I'm leaving."

Vegeta's voice snapped him back into reality.

"What?" Piccolo asked. Vegeta laughed quietly.

"I thought your gigantic ears could hear sounds across the universe," he mocked. "It seems that they're good for nothing, just like you."

"Oh, haha," Piccolo retorted sarcastically, crossing his arms and turning around. "Do you know which direction Gohan flew off in?" he asked. Vegeta shook his head.

"Don't know, don't care," he said indifferently. "Anyways, I'm leaving. Have fun staying alive around the spoiled brat."

With that, Vegeta flew off. Piccolo grimaced.

"Grr…good riddance…" he mumbled, taking off in the other direction. He flew high above the trees, his cape flapping behind him as he cursed Vegeta under his breath.

'_Stupid Saiyan thinks he knows everything,_' he thought. '_Annoying, bratty little—'_

He cut himself off immediately. '_No. I need to find Gohan before he destroys something else._'

Filled with new determination, Piccolo sped up his pace and shot across the sky, senses on the alert for Gohan's presence. He needed to find him, and fast.

* * *

**Oh no! I wonder what's going to happen next chapter? (Actually, I already know :D). Don't worry, another chapter is on its way! Something is revealed next chapter. ;)**


	6. Shadows in the Dark

**The Power Within**

**Hello! I typed this chapter up fast, so I'm in a good mood. It's my longest chapter! :D Just a heads up: my next chapter might come a little slowly, because I have writers block, so just be patient. Anyways, as always, enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

_**SPLASH!**_

'_Not again!' thought Gohan, picking himself up out of the muddy water. 'I'm sick of these dreams. This is getting old.' _

_After double checking his sopping clothes to make sure the water wasn't blood, he surveyed his surroundings and found them the same as they were the first time his dreams began to appear. Chiming leaves, shimmering trees, waterfalls, a bright blue sky...everything seemed normal. Or, as normal as his dreams usually turned out. Gohan sighed contently, letting his head drop in relaxation; everything was as it should be. There was no red sky, no black forest, no strange voice—_

"_Think again, my dear Gohan." _

_Gohan's head snapped up and he stumbled back a few steps. Right in front of him, sitting nonchalantly on a rock, was the same creature he met in the wood. Its red eyes made it seem as if it was staring right through him instead of at him, and it had an aura of death around it. The creature appeared so suddenly that the half-breed Saiyan didn't know what he was looking at at first, but he realized it a couple of seconds later. Falling into a fighting stance, he growled._

"_You!" he barked. "What do you want now!?" _

_It opened its arms in a gesture of peace. "I'm not here to fight you, my friend. I'm here to talk."_

"_Talk?" Gohan chuckled dryly. "I see. Which is why you look like you're ready to murder someone." He stepped forward and, in a sudden rush of bravery he didn't know he possessed, demanded, "If you came here to fight then fight me!"_

_It laughed. "Poor, wayward soul. Why do you not listen to what I tell you? I came here to give you answers, not to fight."_

_This perked up Gohan's interest. "Answers?" he repeated. The creature nodded._

"_Yes, Gohan. Answers to all of your questions." It gestured to the rock in front of it. "Drop your guard and sit down. I am not here to kill you."_

_The young boy dropped his guard, but only slightly, and remained standing. "No thanks, I'm good," he said. "Now, first question. What were you talking about when you said—"_

"_Uh uh uh," it scolded. "I didn't say you could ask the questions. I only said that I would give you the answers." _

_Gohan pressed his lips into a thin line but didn't respond. It was then that he realized that the cheerful scenery didn't change, which made the…_thing _contrast sharply with its surroundings._

'_What is this thing? What does it want?' Gohan thought, eyebrows contorting into an expression of frustration and confusion. 'What's it going to say?'_

_When the creature felt that Gohan wouldn't say anything else, it began to speak._

"_Now, my companion, I am going to start from the beginning," it said. Gohan frowned._

"_Go on."_

_It smiled peculiarly. "Are you aware of the power that you possess within you?"_

_Gohan nodded. "Yes."_

"_Do you know the source of that power? What causes the rush of adrenaline through your veins that, like a lion and its prey, causes you to pounce so violently on your enemies?"_

_Gohan nodded again. "Yes. My emotions and my Saiyan blood."_

"_Wrong."_

_The hybrid's eyes widened. "Say what?"_

_A small chuckle escaped the creature's lips. "You have been deceived all your life, my friend. For it is not your emotions nor is it your blood that causes you to unleash your true potential; rather, it is something much more terrifying. Something that present day man still has yet to comprehend, and may never comprehend."_

_Its smile grew, revealing sharp teeth._

"_Madness. This is what fuels thy power within."_

_The silence that ensued after its statement was deafening, both quiet and loud at the same time, as the creature let that piece of information sink. Gohan stared unbelievingly at it, unable to comprehend what it just said, but then he grew slightly angered._

"_No jokes. Tell me the truth," he demanded, voice wavering slightly. _

"_I jest you not," it replied smoothly. "What I tell you is purely fact. I am not here to deceive you." It suddenly grew angry, its face darkening. "__**So if you would just shut the hell up and listen, I could continue with telling you the answers!**__"_

_It suddenly realized its mistake and calmed down immediately. "Ahem…now, to continue." It got up and walked around Gohan, making him feel uneasy. _

"_Madness. Insanity. This is what fuels you. This is what satisfies your Saiyan thirst for power. This is what is inside of you," it said. When it got another confused look from Gohan, it smiled. "I will elaborate in a minute. Let me explain something else first. Something that has confused you ever since you were able to do it. Yes, your strange piano skills. How oh how were you able to play so well?"_

_Gohan's interest perked up. Finally, he would get the answer. It was about time._

_As if reading his mind, the creature's smile deepened. "I see I have captured your attention," it said. "From the beginning, your energy has been unstable. From your fight with your uncle Raditz, to the duel with the tyrant ruler Frieza, to the final battle between the cantankerous android Cell and beyond, you haven't been able to control your energy. Even though you and that Namekian Piccolo tried so hard, you couldn't do anything. You were scared, afraid of what would happen if you unleashed something like Super Saiyan 2 again. Afraid you would kill someone else, as you killed your father."_

_Gohan flinched, and was visibly hurt by this, but chose not to say anything. The creature then frowned._

"_You had potential, and you chose to waste it," it said harshly. "You let your power rot away in your body, slowly deteriorating until it would have become nothing. You would have become weak and drained, and eventually died along with your father."_

_Another slap. Gohan clenched his fists. 'I will not cry!' he thought. 'I'm stronger than this.'_

_The creature looked into the distance, which was slowly darkening._

"_I knew that your strength would eventually leave you, and that your power would eventually fade. When your energy became noticeably unstable—that is, it was beginning to affect your day to day activities—I knew that I had to step in. That is why I took it as my responsibility to make sure your power was stable."_

_The distance was becoming darker still, and the sky was slowly becoming stained with red. _

"_I tried to force your mind and body to cooperate with the sparring and the meditation, but alas, it wouldn't budge. Your stubborn persona caused the simplest efforts to be put to waste. Your body simply did not accept the, shall I say, 'Saiyan' treatment to level out your energy. So I improvised. I managed to get control of your dream world and threw in a melody as an experiment. After all, music does do wonders to the body."_

_It turned around to face Gohan, smiling strangely. _

"_Your body reacted immediately. I only had to wait until you had a piano until I could implement my theory. I simply instructed your body to play, and it played." It laughed. "And you began to think you had a natural talent! Ah, but it was my doing, not yours, that allowed you to play so well, my dear Gohan."_

_So many questions popped into Gohan's mind, but he pushed them down. He was afraid that if he spoke, the creature would stop giving answers. That was the last thing he needed._

"_You began to develop a genuine love for the piano. The more you played, the calmer you felt, and the more your energy leveled out. Like layers on an onion, your dormant power slowly surfaced, peeling away layer by layer until you reached the center of the power within you. That center is insanity, which is what fuels your power. Your insanity was set free from its prison within your soul, just as a bird is released from its cage."_

_The scenery finished changing. Gohan recognized it as the same threatening scenery he witnessed in his past dream._

"_And when your insanity was set free," it continued, smile stretching wide. "I was set free."_

_This caused Gohan's head to whip in its direction. "What!? What do you mean by that?"_

_Its smile morphed into a smirk. "Think about it."_

_Gohan stopped to think. He tried to remember his last encounter with the creature. Something immediately came to mind._

_**"You do not know? Surely you would know me," it said, its voice steady and calm. "I'm a part of you."**_

_Gohan's eyes widened and he stepped back. "A part of me…" he whispered, taken aback. "I see! That's why you can manipulate my body. That's why you know everything about me."_

_It nodded. "That is correct." _

_The hybrid stopped to think for a second, then gasped. "Are you the reason why Piccolo was scared of my Super Saiyan 2 form?" _

_Another nod, then a smile. "You set me free. When you threw out every ounce of your power into that form, it gave me the opportunity to escape. You gave me a path to the outside world. I was able to take over your body for a couple of minutes. The same thing happened when you became a Super Saiyan 2 against the tyrant Cell, but that memory for both of us is foggy. Either way, it wasn't enough. Your energy still wasn't controlled enough, but I was making progress."_

_A drop of sweat dropped from Gohan's chin. 'Everything makes sense,' he thought. 'His explanation fits. Oh, God, it fits…'_

"_Then, the next day, after your piano lesson in the morning, your powers became stable again. I was desperately looking for another opening. When you offered to spar with the Saiyan prince Vegeta, I became ecstatic. I knew that the opportunity that I had been waiting for had arised. When you became a Super Saiyan in the battle, another path had been opened for me, only this time it was easier and faster for me to escape. So I reappeared again and managed to cause quite a bit of mayhem. Sadly, you became tired and passed out, and here we are now."_

"_Mayhem…" Gohan repeated distractedly. "What do you mean by that?" His anger rose. "What have you done!?"_

_The creature chuckled. "Oh, nothing big. I simply beat Vegeta up then killed a handful of people who were lying around in the forest. They must have been on a camping trip. Don't you worry; they are in a better place now. If you consider hell better, that is."_

_It began to laugh loudly._

"_Look at your hands!" it exclaimed. "Painted crimson, tainted with the blood of innocents! Do you not feel the rush of a good kill? Is it not intoxicating?"_

_The hybrid, on instinct, looked at his once clean hands. They were stained in red. Gohan shut his eyes tightly, his mouth turning downwards in disgust and shame._

'_It's just an illusion!' he thought to himself. 'Trickery! He's trying to deceive me. It never happened!'_

"_Oh, but it did!" the creature shouted gleefully. "And you set me free! You have yourself to blame!"_

"_Shut up!" Gohan yelled. "Just shut up! You have no right to say that to me!" With that, he lunged forward, about to strike the strange monster in the stomach._

"_I wouldn't do that if I were you," it said calmly._

_Gohan froze. "What? Why not?"_

"_Because if you kill me, you will kill yourself. I am a part of you, after all."_

_Gohan's eyes widened and he backed away, defeat and helplessness evident on his face as he realized that he couldn't get rid of this strange creature. They stared at each other in silence for a few minutes before the young boy spoke._

"_I know I can't kill you," he said quietly. "But at least tell me your name."_

_The creature smirked. "I would, but are you worthy enough to know my identity?"_

_Anger slowly washed over Gohan's face. Before he could say something, the monster chuckled._

"_Oh, you are so much fun to cross," it said. "I will tell you my name."_

_It smiled, showing all of its pointy, jagged teeth._

"_My name is Shadow."_

"_Shadow…" the hybrid whispered. Then, in a firmer voice, "Shadow, I have one more question for you."_

"_Proceed."_

_He stepped forward and clenched his fists. "What are your motives? Why do you want to escape my body, my soul, so badly?" he demanded. "If you are a part of me, and you want to have my power balanced, then why do you want to leave, when my power is slowly becoming level?"_

_Shadow smiled ominously. "That is a simple question to answer. I do not care about you nor do I care about your power. I do not want to stay and help you become a strong warrior. When your power is balanced, I can escape; then, my friend, will you know the true extent of my abilities." It stepped closer to Gohan. "I want to murder. To destroy. Destruction, pain, and misery; these are the only things that matter to me." _

_Shadow began to laugh. _

"_Destroy! Destroy! Destroy! I need to kill, to murder, to cause so much mayhem that there will be nothing left in the universe!" He frowned. "But you have caged me! You have prevented me from reaching this goal. From doing what is necessary. With creation, must come destruction. And who is there that will cause it then I, Shadow?"_

_Gohan growled. "Not on my watch! I'll stop you. I'm the protector of Earth!"_

_Shadow smiled. "We shall see about that," he said, slowly fading away. The hybrid gasped and reached out for him._

"_No! I'm not done with you yet! Get back here!" he yelled. Shadow simply chuckled. Before he disappeared completely, however, he had one last thing to say._

"_I shall see you again soon, my dear Gohan."_

_Everything went black._

* * *

Piccolo flew as fast as he could, scanning every bit of forest as he flew by.

"Where is Gohan!?" he thought aloud, head whipping furiously from side to side. "Stupid kid has me chasing him 24/7. When I find him, I'll—"

He stopped suddenly when he found a clearing in the forest, where trees had been ripped from the ground. The Namekian smirked.

"Found it!"

He touched down quickly and was taken aback by the sight in front of him. Piccolo frowned, walked around and stopped. He clenched his teeth and stared at the dead, mutilated camper lying by his feet.

'_Kid's gone too far this time,_' he thought grimly, turning away and walking in the other direction. He found three more maimed bodies and grimaced. The sight was disturbing, even for him. Then, he spotted Gohan laying a ways off, in the part of the forest that hadn't been destroyed. Piccolo strode up to him and shook his head, staring at his pupil with a look of disappointment on his face.

"Gohan," he said aloud. "Why?"

The Namekian picked his student up and observed his face. It was calm, with no sign of remorse or regret. His facial expression reminded Piccolo of when Gohan killed the animals in the forest. He shuddered and took to the air again, ready to return Gohan home.

'_Why?_' he thought again, flying at a slower pace this time. '_What has gotten into you, Gohan?_ _I thought it was the voice in your dream that was causing this, but…I'm not so sure anymore. Either way, you'd better wake up fast, kid; I've got some questions to ask you._'

Feeling a vague sense of déjà vu, Piccolo flew towards the Son house to return his pupil home. Yes, when Gohan woke up, he would ask him many questions indeed.

* * *

Soon, morning came. The sun's rays peeked through the soft, white curtains in Gohan's room, effectively waking him up. He awoke slowly, but he didn't feel well and rested like a child his age should on a beautiful, sunny Saturday. The young half-breed felt _horrible_.

"Augh…" he groaned, blinking rapidly as the sunlight assaulted his vision. "My head is hurting…"

He pushed aside the blanket and got up, his movements sluggish and lethargic. He walked over and stood in front of his mirror, wincing when he noticed the black circles under his eyes.

'_Oh, man, do I look awful,_' he thought to himself, trying to smooth down his disheveled hair. When that didn't work, he sighed and decided to head over to the bathroom. There, Gohan filled his cupped hands with cold water and splashed it on his face, thinking about his crazy dream. Shadow's figure appeared in his mind, but instead of shaking his head and trying to forget about it like he usually did, he tried to focus on it. Unfortunately, when he did, the image immediately slipped out of his grasp as if it was made of butter. He sighed frustratingly; things never went his way.

After finishing his business in the washroom, Gohan entered his room again and sat on the bed. He felt uneasy, as if he were being watched constantly. The black-haired boy slowly placed a hand on his chest.

'_It's hard to believe that a creature is lying within me,_' he thought, closing his eyes and trying to sense out Shadow. He felt nothing except for his own, familiar energy pulsing within his body. '_I feel so…controlled. Watched. Trapped.' _He gripped his shirt tightly, his knuckles turning white. '_Shadow will be a problem in the future, I can feel it. And to think that I could stop him right now, just by charging up an energy blast…Shadow would die, and I would—_'

"Gohan! Are you coming downstairs or not? Do you want your food to get cold?"

Gohan took a sharp intake of breath and let go of his chest immediately. Having been snapped out of his trance, he glanced down at his clothes and realized that he was still wearing his fighter's gear.

"A-ah, coming mom!" he yelled to his mother. He quickly changed his clothes and ran downstairs, all the while telling himself off for thinking thoughts like that.

'_Killing myself isn't going to solve this,_' he thought, entering the kitchen. '_There must be another way.'_

"Good morning sweetie. How are you?" Chichi asked, turning around. When she saw how Gohan looked, she gasped. "Oh, Gohan! You look horrible! Are you sick?"

Gohan managed a small laugh. "Aw, mom, you don't have to worry about me. I'm fine, really, I—"

"No, no," she scolded, walking up to him and placing a hand on his forehead. Chichi removed it after a couple of seconds. "Your forehead is hot, which means you probably have a fever." She ran a hand through his thick, black hair. "Poor baby…that's okay, I have medicine for you in the drawer that should fix you right up."

Chichi opened and closed the kitchen cabinets and drawers but couldn't find the medicine. She frowned and placed her hands on her hips.

"Well, we've run out," she said in annoyance. "I'm going to go to the pharmacy and buy some more. Do you think you'll be okay for a couple of minutes by yourself?" she asked her son. Gohan smiled half-heartedly.

"Yeah, I'll be okay," he said truthfully. Chichi smiled back.

"Alright. I'll be back in about 10 minutes, okay? You can sit down and eat breakfast while you wait for me to come back" she said. Gohan nodded and watched Chichi leave, before plopping himself down on the living room couch and burying his face in the pillow.

"Unngghhh…" he complained. "My head is _killing _me…!"

Gohan thought about food and gagged. He really didn't feel like eating right now. His mind was full of thoughts about Shadow, but every time he focused on them they slipped away again. The effort made his head pulse even more.

'_I know!_' the hybrid thought, slowly sitting up. '_I'll do a bit of math homework to take my mind off of things._'

He dragged himself to his room and sat down at his oak desk. After opening his thick math textbook and taking out a fresh sheet of lined paper, Gohan got to work.

'_Page 34, page 34…here it is!_ _Now, question #5…5x+25(4-3^2)^5…_'

**Tak! Tak!**

A sudden knock on the window broke his concentration. Gohan dropped his pencil and turned to see who it was.

Piccolo. His eyes narrowed. What was he doing here?

"Gohan! Open up!" said Piccolo. Gohan opened the window and Piccolo entered his room, an irritated frown on his face. The hybrid eyed him wearily; he looked angry, and Gohan felt too sick to argue with him again. A sudden realization hit him.

Did Piccolo know about Shadow?

He was a master of mind reading and telepathy, after all. It was hard to keep anything from him. Even so, Gohan tried to act innocent.

"Oh hi, Mr. Piccolo!" he greeted happily. "What are you doing here?"

"Enough with the act, kid," Piccolo barked, standing up to his full height. "I have some questions to ask you."

Gohan gave him a look of confusion. "Act? What are you talking about? Did something happen?"

"Something happened, alright," the Namekian said. "And it involves you." He crossed his arms. "What has gotten into you, Gohan? You've been bratty, annoying, and arrogant lately. Has Vegeta finally rubbed off on you?"

'_What?_' Gohan thought, surprised. '_Oh…that must be what Shadow acted like when he took over my body._' "I don't know what you're talking about, Mr. Piccolo," he lied.

Piccolo scowled. "Of course you don't," he said sarcastically. "After blowing up two forests, beating Vegeta within an inch of his life, and killing five people, you're still clueless."

The accusation made Gohan flinch. "I-I didn't do that," he squeaked. The young boy was telling the truth; he hadn't done anything. It was all Shadow's doing. He couldn't tell Piccolo, though. The Namekian would just push further, and Gohan knew that he could handle this by himself. He was Goku's son, after all. He didn't need any help.

Right?

"Didn't do that!?" Piccolo shouted. "How can you say that? You killed innocent people, kid. That's just as bad as Cell. You've become your greatest fear!"

"Please, Piccolo…" Gohan said, pinching the bridge of his nose. "My head hurts. Do you think we could talk later?"

This made the Namekian angrier. "No, Gohan. We've waited too long. I want answers. _Now_."

The half-Saiyan sat down at his desk and picked up his pencil. "Seriously, Piccolo. Can this please wait?"

Piccolo slammed a hand on Gohan's desk, making his container of pencil crayons fall to the ground.

"_**What is wrong with you!?**_"" he yelled angrily. "I thought at first that it wasn't you causing destruction, that it was that voice I heard in your dream, but I'm not so sure anymore. Stop lying and answer my questions!"

Piccolo's yelling made Gohan angry. He turned to face his mentor and glared at him. "_I'm _lying!? _You're _lying! You never told me you knew about that voice!"

"Neither did you!"

"You snuck into my head!"

"You _killed five people!_"

Gohan's head began to throb again, and he suddenly felt really sick. He sighed exasperatingly and ran a hand through his unruly hair. "I'm not in the mood for this, Piccolo! Let's just—"

"Excuses, excuses!" Piccolo growled. "I've had enough of your excuses! You always feel sick, you always have to study, you always have to go somewhere, _**you always have some damn excuse!**_"

"I'm not lying! It's not an excuse!" Gohan defended. "And what about you? You always have to meditate, you always have to train! _**So don't you dare tell me that I make excuses!**_"

The Namekian clenched his fists. "You know what!? I—"

"Gohan, honey, I brought the—_what in the world!?_"

Gohan and Piccolo whipped their heads around. There, standing in the doorway with a look of shock on her face, was Chichi. Her eyes darted between the two for a couple of agonizing seconds, frozen in place, before she stepped into action.

"Piccolo! Stop harassing my baby!" she screamed, lunging for him. He stepped back as a reflex and gripped her upcoming fist tightly. A little too tightly, it seemed, for she immediately pulled back her fist and glared at him with fire in her eyes.

"Get out! Shoo! Just because I let you and Gohan visit each other doesn't mean you can just barge into his room!" she yelled. Then, grabbing his cape, she dragged him to the window. "_Get out!_"

The tall warrior tried to pull his cape away, but found he couldn't. '_Damn, this lady's strong…_'

With one, final push, Chichi yelled, "Out with you!"

"Alright, I'm going!" Piccolo yelled back. Just before he left, he glared at Gohan. "We need to talk later, kid. Meet me at my waterfall tomorrow."

As soon as he left, Chichi shut the window. "Good riddance," she huffed irritatingly. Turning to Gohan, she smiled. "I hope your head isn't hurting too much. I've got the medicine, so don't worry."

"Thanks, mom," Gohan said, smiling half-heartedly back. His mother opened the bottle of pills and placed a pill in his hand.

"Do you need some water?" she asked. When Gohan nodded, she put down the bottle. "Alright, wait here."

Chichi left and came back with a glass of water. She handed it to her son, who threw the pill in his mouth and greedily swallowed all of the water. Chichi laughed.

"Well, someone's thirsty!" she said. After double checking his forehead, she said, "Maybe you should get some rest."

"Yeah, that would be nice…" the hybrid mumbled. "But it's the morning; I just woke up, and—"

"Hush, sweetie," Chichi interrupted. "It's okay. Sometimes, our bodies are worked too hard, and much rest is needed to get them back in shape." She frowned in mock anger. "So get to bed, mister! Come on! _Git_!"

Gohan chuckled weakly and hopped into bed.

"Thanks, mom," he repeated, wrapping the blanket around him. "My head is feeling a bit better now."

"No problem. I'll be downstairs, okay? Call if you need anything."

"Okay."

Chichi left. Gohan lay down in bed, disturbed. His fight with Piccolo was still fresh in his mind. Not to mention the fact that Shadow wasn't leaving his mind anytime soon, either…

God, this was just so _frustrating_!

The hybrid tossed and turned in his bed, unable to rest. His mind was racing, trying to make sense of many things at once. It didn't seem like he would get any sleep soon. Besides, he didn't want to encounter _him _again. Speaking of which…

'_What am I going to do about Shadow?_' Gohan thought. '_I know I can do this by myself, but…what if I'm underestimating his power?_'

_**I shall see you again soon, my dear Gohan.**_

'_What did he mean by that?'_

_**No, Gohan. We've waited too long. I want answers. Now.**_

'_And what am I going to do about Piccolo?_'

With many questions swimming around in his mind, Gohan closed his eyes and tried to sleep. He would find the answers. He was Chichi and Goku's son, information prodigy and fighting prodigy. He would do it.

Just…maybe after he rested up a bit.

* * *

**Well? What do you think? A lot got revealed in this chapter, and I hope I clarified a lot of things for you guys. If you have any questions or feel confused about something, feel free to review. I'm usually blind to my own mistakes, so don't be scared to point them out. I hope you liked the chapter! Adieu, and see you next update!**


	7. Sickness

**The Power Within**

**Hey guys! I'm finally back...AFTER A MONTH AND A HALF. This is upsetting, even for me. I've got to admit it was pure laziness that prevented me from working on this often (although there was a lot of work I had to do). So anyways, enough of the pity party...let's get on with the story!**

**Edit: This story has been edited (yes, in the same day) because I needed to add a couple of things and fix some mistakes. You may need to reread the chapter (especially the paragraph at the end).**

* * *

"Thank you, mom."

"You're welcome. If you need anything, _anything _at all, just holler, okay?"

"Okay."

Chichi set the glass of water on Gohan's side table and the **heated wheat pillow (see bottom of page for info) **on his head. After making sure that he was all tucked in bed (to the hybrid's slight annoyance; he wasn't a baby), the housewife headed downstairs. Gohan closed his eyes and groaned.

The headache was back.

He'd noticed it immediately that morning, when he woke up to a stabbing pain in his temples as if someone was repeatedly slamming a hammer on his head. That was immediately followed by stomach pain and nausea, which later caused him to throw up. Which made his headache _worse_.

"Ugh…" he groaned again, turning around and reassembling the wheat pillow on his forehead. "This really sucks…"

What made everything a million times worse was that the young half-Saiyan knew that Shadow was bound to attack any day now. This was bad, because he was in a state of vulnerability right now and any attack from Shadow would be fatal. The hybrid was jumping at every noise and watching every power level in the area, two acts which made him very restless. He'd even begun to hallucinate, seeing movement in various places such as his mirror and the corners of his room. It was beginning to scare him; the hallucinations seemed so real.

And Piccolo…

He stopped that thought right there. There was no need to worry himself over what others thought of the situation right now. Gohan needed to focus on his own well-being if he ever wanted to be ready to face Shadow. He hoped he wouldn't have to cross that bridge any time soon.

'_Man, all of this thinking is making me dizzy…_' he thought to himself, massaging his temples. '_I think I'll take mom's advice and sleep for a little bit_.'

With that, the hybrid pulled the blankets above his head and drifted off into a fitful sleep.

(In his dream)

**_You need this._**

_With creation, must come des—_

_Destroy! Destroy! De—_

**_Need it like the blood in your veins._**

_I need to kill. To murder. To—_

_Destruction, pain, and misery; these are—_

**_Why?_**

_Madness. Insanity. This is what—_

_Because if you kill me, you will kill—_

**_Why won't you let me escape?_**

Gohan's eyes snapped open. Something woke him up out of his sleep. He sat up and looked around, fully awake now, and felt the air behind him hug his shoulders. A sense of dread and anxiety pooled in his stomach; was there something in the room? The black-haired boy listened closer.

A sound. It was slowly getting louder. Gohan's heart pounded in his ears, but he struggled to listen closer.

It sounded like…someone throwing up?

"M-mom?" Gohan hoarsely called out after moment of hesitation. "Are you okay?"

More coughing and gagging noises ensued, then, "Y-yes, honey, I-I'm okay." A couple more minutes passed before Chichi entered Gohan's bedroom, looking pale and drowsy. She was grabbing onto the doorframe for support, which worried her son.

"Are you sure?" he asked again. Chichi smiled weakly.

"Yes, I-I must have caught w-whatever you have, that's all," she said, clearing her throat. "Say, I feel horrible right now and I'm pretty sure that you feel the same way. What do you say we head over the doctor's to get checked?"

Gohan managed a weak smile back and slowly pushed the blanket away. "Yeah, I think that's a good idea."

Lethargically, mother and son got ready for the doctor's. Since Chichi was feeling nauseous, they decided against using Nimbus. The doctor's house was located near the base of Mount Paozu anyway, so they decided that walking would be the best option.

"It's so nice today, don't you think, mom?" Gohan commented, as he walked with his mother down the path. Chichi nodded.

"The fresh air certainly is refreshing," she agreed. "Although I'm still feeling sick."

"It's okay. We should be reaching the doctor's house soon."

Mother and son were quiet for a few more minutes before Chichi broke the silence.

"Gohan, honey…I haven't heard you play the piano in a while. I thought you loved it!" she said. "Is there a reason why you won't play it anymore? You know you're supposed to get your credit, right?"

Gohan chewed the bottom of his lip for a while, contemplating his answer. He stopped playing piano because he knew it was the key to Shadow's escape. Even looking at the piano creeped him out. But he couldn't tell his mother that; there was no way. So, he stuck with the same excuse he'd been using for a while now.

"I've…just felt too sick to play, that's all," he said. It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't the truth either. '_It will have to do,_' thought Gohan.

Chichi frowned. "I know you better than that, sweetie. There's another reason, isn't there?" she asked. Gohan opened his mouth to respond, but then noticed the doctor's house up ahead. Grateful for the distraction, he gladly pointed it out to his mother, who immediately dropped the topic.

They walked up to the front door and knocked. The old, weathered door was quickly answered by a middle-aged woman with frizzy, brown hair and a pair of spindly glasses placed on her nose. She wore a long white robe and a stethoscope around her neck. On her waist was a small pager.

"Oh, hello, Chichi!" she greeted, warmly inviting them inside the house. "And hello to you, too, Gohan. My, you've grown! The last time I saw you, you were only a few months old!"

Gohan blushed. "Aw, you think?"

"Of course! You're a young man now, aren't you?" she said, gesturing for them to sit on the chairs in the small living room, which had been converted to an office. "Now, what brings you here, Chichi?"

Chichi smiled at her. "Hello, Dr. Elaine," she replied, taking a seat. "Gohan here's caught the flu, and I think I've gotten it from him. We're both feeling really bad right now."

Dr. Elaine nodded and sat down on a chair in front of a large, oak desk.

"Tell me your symptoms and when you began to notice them. You first, Miss Chichi," she said, all business now. Chichi gave her a small smile, though her eyes reflected her true grief.

"Please don't call me Miss Chichi. I'm still Mrs. Son," she corrected. "My husband may have…passed, but that doesn't mean I'm single."

The doctor's eyes widened, realizing her mistake. "Oh, I'm so sorry!"

Chichi simply waved it off, coughed, then straightened her back. "A-anyways, my symptoms," she began. Dr. Elaine got her pen and pad ready. "I've recently, every since last week, begun to feel fatigued and…numb, like everything was a dream," she explained. "Today, though, I threw up, and my stomach is killing me. I just feel really out of it, and I'm constantly hungry, and I've gained a bit of weight, and…"

Gohan listened absently to his mother's symptoms, focusing more on trying to ignore the blinding headache he had all of a sudden. It seemed that focusing on ignoring it wasn't doing any good at all. Soon, something caught his attention by the door, and he peered over his mother's shoulder to look at it. What he saw almost made him reel back in shock.

Shadow.

'_B-but how!? I thought he was supposed to be inside my mind or something! This guy is everywhere!_' Gohan thought, panicking. He stared transfixed at the door, Shadow's bright red eyes boring straight into his soul.

He couldn't turn away.

Dr. Elaine wrote everything that Chichi had said on a small pad and ripped it out. "Alright. Now, Son Gohan?"

Gohan stared at the door, a blank and slightly scared look on his face. Chichi raised an eyebrow.

"Gohan? Sweetie, the doctor's asking for your symptoms," she said. When he didn't respond, she tapped his shoulder. "Gohan?"

He jumped in his seat. "H-huh? Oh, sorry…just blanked out a little, s'all," he defended, waving it off.

"Really?" Chichi questioned. "You looked like you'd just seen a ghost."

The hybrid chose not to reply, instead sparing one more glance at the door. There was nothing there.

'_Must have been another hallucination, then…_' he thought, relief washing through him.

Dr. Elaine cleared her throat, signaling for him to go on. Gohan blushed a little and spoke.

"Well…I woke up in the morning yesterday and felt like my head was splitting open. I was feeling dizzy and tired as well," he explained, trying to shake off the feeling of being watched. "Today, when I woke up, it escalated; the pain in my head grew and I threw up 'cause I was feeling nauseous. Other than that…" He placed a finger on his chin. "Uh, I don't think there's anything else," he lied. It was best not to mention the hallucinations, like the one he'd had just now; he didn't want to be sent off to a therapist or anything.

The medic quickly jotted everything down and ripped the second sheet out. "Okay," she said. "Follow me, I'll examine you two."

Gohan and his mother followed the doctor to another room, where a cot was neatly placed against a wall and a tray of medical supplies was placed on a table in the corner. On the wall beside the cot were some more necessities. Dr. Elaine gestured for Gohan to sit on the cot and he did so, albeit a bit nervously. His father's fear was needles, and although Gohan didn't necessarily _fear _examinations, he didn't like being examined one bit.

After a bit of poking and prodding, Gohan was free. Chichi sat on the cot once her son got off and was examined next.

"Lie down and lift your shirt so I can see your stomach," the doctor instructed. Chichi lay down and slightly lifted her shirt, conscious of her son sitting on the small chair next to her. Dr. Elaine felt around her stomach for a bit. She must have discovered something, because her face lit up and she smiled. Chichi sat up and looked at her with a questionable expression.

"What is it? Did something happen?" she asked. The medic looked at Gohan.

"Do you think you could wait for your mother in the waiting room, Gohan? I need to ask her some questions," she requested. Gohan nodded.

"Bye mom," he said, leaving. Dr. Elaine turned back to Chichi, seemingly excited.

"Did you do anything with your husband before he passed?" she asked, careful to use the polite term for death. Chichi raised an eyebrow.

"Do anything? What do you—_oh_…" She blushed in recognition. "W-well, um, yes…but—"

"And have you been feeling sick ever since?"

Chichi shook her head. "Only about 3 months later, which is now."

The doctor's smile didn't leave her face; if anything, it widened. She turned around, opened the drawers below the table, and pulled out a small box, which she placed into Chichi's hands.

"I think you should take this," she said. "You know, just to be sure."

The housewife glanced at the box in her hands and blanched.

It was a pregnancy test.

"Y-you…think I might be pregnant?" she squeaked.

"It's plausible," the doctor replied smoothly, "and the most possible diagnosis. I'm sure I'm right, but that box there's just for confirmation." She winked. "You know I'm right."

Chichi's face lit up at the prospect of having a second child, but then she frowned. Memories of raising Gohan with Goku filled her mind, and she unconsciously placed a hand on her stomach.

'_How will I raise this child without him?_' she thought worriedly, biting her lip. '_I'm still just recovering from the blow of his absence, and then this...this child will grow up without a father…_'

As if sensing her thoughts, Dr. Elaine placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "It's alright, dear. You have your son and your friends to help you through this. Don't you ever think that you're alone," she reassured. Chichi smiled, feeling a bit better.

"Thanks," she replied. "I think I'll go see Gohan now."

"Oh!" the medic exclaimed. "I almost forgot." She turned around, opened the drawer, and shuffled through some medicine. After finding the one she needed, she turned back to her patient.

"This medicine is for Gohan. It's just an antibiotic. Make sure he takes it three times a day, with eight hour intervals in between. It will help cure his flu," Dr. Elaine explained. Chichi took it, thanked her, and left the room to see her son. She found him leaning his head against the wall, sound asleep. His head lolled back and forth, and drool dripped from the side of his mouth. Chichi laughed and shook him lightly.

"Honey, wake up. We have to go home," she said. Gohan opened his eyes and rubbed them groggily.

"Hn? What?" he mumbled. Then, awaking, "Oh, mom. You're done?"

She nodded. Gohan got up and stretched like a cat after a nap, letting out a loud mewl as he did so. Once that was done, he wiped the drool off of his face and looked at his mother.

"Okay, let's go."

They exited the house, Chichi holding the medicine bag. Dr. Elaine waved goodbye to them.

"Bye! I hope I don't see you here again!" she called. Chichi turned back, slightly shocked.

"What? Why?" she asked. The doctor smiled and winked.

"'Because that means that I didn't do my job properly," she replied. The housewife simply smiled.

"Come on, Gohan," she said, nudging him. He arched an eyebrow at her and they continued walking home, oblivious to the dark energy which slowly began to swell within the child.

**_I shall see you again soon, my dear Gohan._**

* * *

Salty ocean tides slowly traveled across the surface of the water, making their way towards the sandy coastline. Their mist filled the air with a light fog, creating a blanket for the sparkling ocean. A rock suddenly broke the calm surface. Krillin sighed and threw another rock.

'_Man, what's wrong with me?_' he thought dejectedly, gazing thoughtfully at the water. '_There's gotta be somethin' wrong with me if Android 18 rejected me so bluntly._'

He quickly found another rock and threw it as well, the rock joining the other rocks that had sunken to the bottom of the ocean. Resting his head upon his knees, he thought, '_Damn, life just isn't fair!_'

His sulking was interrupted when Piccolo tapped down right in front of him and crossed his arms. Krillin gazed blankly at the Namekian, still lost in thought. He suddenly realized who he was staring at and crawled back, letting out a cry of fear.

"Holy shit, Piccolo! Don't just drop in like that!" he exclaimed, standing up to more comfortably speak with him. With him being short and the Namekian being tall, talking from the ground wasn't a good idea.

"I do what I want," Piccolo retorted curtly, holding eye contact. Krillin gulped. '_If looks could kill…_'

"So, what brings you here?" the monk asked cheerfully, trying to make conversation to break the awkward silence. Piccolo huffed and broke eye contact, opting instead to gaze at the ocean.

"Have you noticed anything weird about Gohan lately?" he asked. Krillin thought about that for a minute.

"Uh, not really…just that he's been a little less childish. Seems like the Cell Games really took its toll on him…that, or he's matured," he mused. "Why?"

Piccolo's eyes snapped back to meet Krillin's. "Has he told you anything suspicious?"

"Suspicious?" the bald-headed man repeated. "Of course not. I-Is something wrong? I mean, Gohan—"

"It's none of your business," Piccolo interrupted immediately. Then, his eyebrows contorted into an expression of thought. "Actually…"

"Actually what? What's going on?" Krillin asked, concern etched in his voice. Piccolo was jumping back and forth between things, something that the Namekian rarely—if ever—did. The monk had never seen Piccolo in such a state of panic before. Not that he was panicking, oh no…Piccolo had too much pride for that. He just seemed much more jumpy than usual.

Piccolo thought for a moment. "I suppose you should know…" he mumbled. "Gohan's been acting up lately. His power has this strange aura to it, and—"

"What? Strange aura? B-but I haven't sensed anything," Krillin interrupted. Piccolo shot him a look.

"Would you just shut up and let me finish?" he growled. Krillin backed away.

"Okay, okay! Man, I already have Bulma yelling at me all the time, I don't need another," he complained. Piccolo glared at him then continued.

"As I was saying, he's been acting like Vegeta lately, even beat the bastard up. He's been cocky, arrogant, and thinks he's the strongest in the universe."

"B-but he is—"

"I said thinks! It shows he's being narcissistic."

An awkward silence filled the air as Piccolo took a break from speaking. Krillin, not very good with situations like these and pretty sure the tall warrior would snap at him any minute, twiddled his thumbs nervously and stared at the water, the sand, the house, and everything in between. Piccolo just gazed at the water, his facial expression and posture clearly indicating that he was disturbed.

"That's not all," he said, voice cold. "He killed five innocent campers. Maimed their bodies like they were toys."

Krillin's mouth fell open.

Killed?

"T-there must be a mistake! Gohan's not like that! The little buddy didn't even want to kill Cell, never mind some innocent people!" he exclaimed. Piccolo's expression didn't change, though he gave a sort of side glance to the bald-headed warrior.

"When he went Super Saiyan 2, he wanted Cell to suffer," he said. "This is the same situation. He wants innocents to suffer. He blew away three forest areas already, killing animals in the process. Gohan's defiance and immorality is slowly progressing. We need to do something about it, and fast."

Krillin simple stood there, mouth open wide like a fish in water. Piccolo turned fully towards him and growled.

"Why am I even telling you this?" he wondered aloud. "It's not like you'll do anything about it. I should have known better than to come here asking for your help."

"N-no, wait—"

It was too late. With a swish of his cape, Piccolo was gone.

Krillin face-palmed himself. '_Stupid, good for nothing…can't even give a proper response, can you, Krillin? Can't really do anything, can you? First Android 18 rejects you, and then Piccolo yells at you. What's next?"_

He immediately shook his head to get rid of those thoughts. The self-pity could wait. Right now, he needed to see if his little friend was all right. Krillin felt his heart ache at the thought of Gohan. Was everything that Piccolo had said true?

He really hoped not.

The only way to make sure was to check on him, he decided. Maybe Piccolo was wrong. Gohan wouldn't kill people. He was too innocent. He saved the world from Cell. He was a hero, not a villain. He loved nature. He loved his friends and family. He—

'_Damn it, Krillin, you're jabbering to yourself again,_' he told himself, shaking his head. The monk sighed and headed inside Kame House to get changed. It was time to pay a long-awaited visit to the Son house.

* * *

Gohan found himself lying sick in bed for the umpteenth time, another heated wheat pillow positioned on his forehead. His antibiotic was sitting on the side table beside him along with a glass of water, a spoon, a book, and a box of tissues.

'_This is starting to get really boring…_' he thought to himself, staring blankly at the ceiling. The hybrid was beginning to get restless. He'd been sitting in bed all day and all night for the past two days and longed to move around and play. Hell, he even missed his studies. Anything was better than nothing. He wouldn't even mind sparring with Vegeta, which was usually a pain in the neck. Literally.

Another hour passed. Gohan thought about math. He thought about science. He thought about plants and animals and nature. He thought about sparring, and killing.

Math…sparring…killing…animals…

Sparring…killing…animals…

Killing…animals…

**_Torture…_**

'_What?_'

Gohan jolted himself out of his thoughts. '_Where did that come from? I must be losing my mind…_' he thought. Then, '_Oh yeah, I already am…to Shadow!_' The young child gave a humourless chuckle. That chuckle became a light giggle, which soon became a loud, guffawing laugh. Once he calmed himself down, he turned around to reach for the book on his side table to keep his mind busy. With nothing to do, his thoughts constantly drifted, and he found them slowly becoming scarier and scarier. His first thought was that it was because of Shadow, which was logical and probably the truth, but as time progressed he decided he didn't want to believe that anymore and shifted the blame towards his flu. Stupid flu was driving him crazy.

He stared at the cover of his book. _Nature: Survival of the Fittest. _Good read. All about plants and animals and the food chain. He opened the cover and began reading.

The clock ticked as he read, mocking every second he lay sick in bed. The half-breed flipped through the pages, currently reading about the French Lop, which was a type of rabbit found in France. It came in a variety of different colours, was fairly large but weak, and had a soft coat of fur.

Weak. Soft. _Easy_.

Gohan suddenly found himself very edgy and restless. He tossed and turned, trying to find a comfortable position to read in. When he couldn't find a good position, he sat up and threw the book away like it was some sort of plague. It knocked over the glass of water on its way towards the ground. The hybrid's eyes were darting back and forth across the room, feeling like something was going to jump out at him any second.

'_What is wrong with me?_' he thought, rubbing his face. '_I…I need some fresh air._'

He crawled out of bed and walked over to the window, taking care to open it quietly so his mother, who was taking a morning nap on the couch downstairs, wouldn't hear. She still hadn't told him what the doctor said about her symptoms yet, and that worried him. What if it was something worse than the flu?

No. He wouldn't allow himself to think like that. It was probably something so insignificant that she had no need to tell him.

He stepped outside and took a deep breath of fresh air. The grass tickled his feet as he walked around and the sun shone brightly, burning his already sweaty skin. He decided to head into the forest towards the river, where he could cool off. Chichi would throw a fit if she knew that he was taking a swim while still sick, but whatever. He felt a bit guilty for disobeying his mother, but what she doesn't know won't hurt her, right?

As usual, the forest was welcoming. Flowers stretched their petals into the sky, reaching for bits of sunlight, and animals loped around the area, looking for food. Gohan felt his skin crawl and his fingers twitch at the sight of the animals. He felt restless again, jumpy, as if he had to do something really important but time was running out. His breathing was laboured and his chest felt funny. He felt as if something was trying to rip its way out of him.

Rip its way out of him.

Gohan's eyes widened and he clutched his chest. '_Oh, crap!_'

**_I shall see you again soon, my dear Gohan._**

Shadow.

'_Why didn't I notice it sooner?_' Gohan thought with growing alarm. '_Shadow was taking advantage of my weakness and trying to break out! He's…he's…_'

He swallowed hard. '_He's escaping!_'

Sure enough, Gohan felt another tug inside of him, and his head began to ache. His vision span and he grabbed onto a tree beside him to stop his fall. The forest animals around him filled his vision.

_Killing animals._

_Weak. Soft. Easy._

_Torture. _

His blood boiled. Just thinking about the animals, his hands on their necks, warm, fragile creatures, slowly squeezing…dragging out the pain…

**_Destroy! Destroy! Destroy!_**

'_No! I won't let Shadow win!_'

Gohan stumbled in the direction of his home, hands clutching his head. He could feel the monster clawing its way out of him, reaching for the outside world. Shadow's madness filled him, his desire to kill filling all of his senses. He wanted to destroy. He wanted to hurt.

He wanted Shadow to get the hell out of his head!

The black-haired child managed to break through the forest and reach his home. He staggered towards the house. Closer…closer…

He tripped and fell. Shadow's whispers filled his head.

'_Let me escape…_'

'_With creation, must come destruction…_'

'_I want to murder. To destroy..._'

'_Why are you holding me back?_'

Gohan closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to ignore the creature's words. He needed to be brave, but he couldn't find that bravery. The young warrior felt like a kid again. A kid who desperately needed the warm embrace of his mother.

"M-mom…!" he croaked, crawling towards his home with the little strength he had left. "C-can you hear me? Mom!"

Shadow's presence filled his entire being. He felt his world staring to darken.

'_I'm coming out, Gohan. You can't stop me!_'

Pain. Pain everywhere. He felt as if his skin was being slashed open.

"Mom! Piccolo! Someone! **_Help me!_****"**

He passed out.

* * *

Krillin tapped down in front of the Son house a couple of hours later, a plate of rice in his hand. Chichi's temper was worse than Bulma's, Piccolo's, and Vegeta's anger combined, and he wasn't about to fall victim to it. So, he made the rice to make her happy and get on her good side. Taking a deep breath, he prepared himself for her fierce personality and knocked on the door. Surprisingly, no one answered. He knocked again. This time, the monk could hear loud footsteps, as if someone were running. Then, the door was unlocked and opened.

"Hi, Chichi, what's—are you okay?"

Chichi's eyes were red, as if she had been crying for a long time, and she looked utterly defeated. Krillin gulped and took a step back. When Chichi was sad or angry, all hell broke loose. Unexpectedly, she simply sighed and looked at him sadly.

"Hello, Krillin," she greeted quietly. "I suppose you want to see Gohan. Come in."

He quietly followed her in and took off his shoes. Holding out the rice, he said, "This is for you and Gohan."

Chichi took it and set it on the table. "Thank you," she said, her voice hushed. Krillin raised an eyebrow; what was going on?

"Uh, did I…miss something?" he asked, scratching his bald head. The housewife said nothing. She simply walked towards the stairs. Krillin followed her, still confused. When they reached Gohan's bedroom, Chichi stopped and gave the monk such a heartbreaking look that he almost reeled back in shock.

"Chichi, what happened? Is…is he okay? Don't tell me he sparred with Vegeta and broke a couple of ribs or something," he joked, but on the inside worry filled him. He remembered the conversation he had with Piccolo and inwardly frowned.

'_Was he right after all?_' he thought to himself. '_Is there something wrong with Gohan? But if he was right…that means that Gohan killed…_'

"Now you listen here," Chichi whispered, interrupting Krillin's thoughts. "Something happened a couple of hours ago. I went to check up on Gohan and give him his medicine for his flu, but he wasn't in the room. Do you know where I found him?"

Krillin shook his head.

"I found him lying by the edge of the forest, unconscious. His skin…" She choked up. "His skin was horribly bruised, Krillin. I…I don't know what happened. After I brought him inside, he stayed unconscious." She brushed her bangs away from her face, a poor attempt at unnoticeably trying to wipe away her tears. "He's still unconscious. Please, Krillin…please try to wake him up. He's not waking up. I couldn't even feel his heart beat. I…"

Krillin put a comforting hand on her arm, hoping to comfort her. He shouldn't even have tried, because she jerked her arm away from him. "I don't need comforting," she snapped. "Just…help him out. Please."

She was begging him. How could he refuse?

"Don't worry, Chichi, I'm sure he'll be fine once I'm done with him!" he tried to joke. All it got him was a glare from Chichi and a warning, telling him that if he did anything stupid she'd personally kick his butt. He scratched his head and waited until she was gone before turning to face the door.

'_Okay then, I guess it's time to see how the old buddy's doing,_' he thought, opening the door. '_Hopefully, well._"

Krillin opened the door and stepped inside. There, on the bed, was a figure—presumably Gohan— wrapped in blanket. A strip of white cloth was placed on his forehead, and a bucket of water was placed by the bed. On the side table was some medicine and a glass of water. It seemed like a normal sight for a sick person. He took a deep breath and walked up to the bed. Looking from above, he could only see part of Gohan's face; the rest was covered by blanket and cloth.

'_I hope your sleeping well, kiddo,_' he thought. '_But I hope even more that what Piccolo said about you was wrong._'

Krillin sat down on the edge of the bed. "Hey, Gohan. It's Krillin," he said.

No answer.

"Doesn't look like you're doing too well," he continued. "Being sick sucks, doesn't it. Man, I hate colds. They stink!"

No answer.

"I remember this one time when I got sick, and I was coughing all the time and my head hurt badly and Master Roshi couldn't understand what I was saying 'cause my nose was stuffy, and it was funny because…"

He trailed off. Gohan still refused to respond.

"Ah, I guess you're not in the talking mood." He scratched his head, then thought about what Chichi said.

_"I found him lying by the edge of the forest, unconscious. His skin…" She choked up. "His skin was horribly bruised, Krillin. I…I don't know what happened."_

Krillin frowned. It was time to stop babbling and time to see how his friend was doing. He scooted up a bit and grabbed the edge of the blanket.

"Gohan…" he said softly, shaking him a bit. He got no response as expected, but still…it never hurt to hope. The monk slowly peeled off the blanket and gasped at what he saw.

Gohan's skin _was _bruised, just as Chichi had said. He had small bruises and big bruises running up and down his arms, neck, and chest. What was worse, though, was the large slash running across the top of his chest. It was thin and didn't look life-threatening, but it still stood out from the rest of the small injuries. Krillin's mind immediately began to work.

'_Wh-who…who could have done this!?_' he thought. '_It can't be Freeza; he's not capable of this kind of damage. Besides, Gohan could cream him, Super Saiyan or no Super Saiyan. Not Garlic Junior; he was sent back into the Dead Zone. It doesn't look like androids…_'

It suddenly hit him.

'_C-Cell! It has to be Cell! That means that…that Goku and Gohan never killed him! He's still alive!_'

Krillin's hands began to shake. "C-crap!" he swore out loud. "Why does this stuff always have to happen to us? I couldn't even touch him in his semi-perfect form! Oh, man..._why me?_"

The monk grabbed Gohan's shoulders and shook him, vaguely aware of how scorching hot the child's skin was.

"Hey! Hey, kid! Wake up!" he shouted, shaking harder as he got no response. "Who did this to you? Huh? Gohan, was it Cell? It was Cell who hurt you, wasn't it? Gohan, wake up!"

"You must be stupid if you think it's Cell."

Krillin whipped his head towards the window and was surprised to see Vegeta standing there.

"Seriously!? First Piccolo, now you! What's next?" he sighed exasperatingly, then turned back to Gohan. "What is it? I thought you decided to stop fighting, or whatever."

Vegeta "hmphed" and turned away from the window. "I felt a huge power level in the area, by the woods." he said quietly. "I thought…that Kakkarot would be here."

The bald-headed monk didn't respond. It wasn't surprising that Vegeta would fly to wherever he sensed Goku's energy. The guy had been pretty bummed out after the Cell Games, and everyone knew that it was because of Goku's death. He seemed to have lost his drive to fight without the Earth-raised Saiyan to test his strength against. His obsession with the pure-hearted fighter was laughable in Krillin's opinion, but he didn't dare say that in front of Vegeta. He liked his head where it was, thank you very much.

"Hey, baldy, are you even listening?" Vegeta snapped, jolting the monk out of his thoughts. He looked up at Vegeta and frowned. "What?"

The prince jabbed his thumb outside in the direction of the forest. "Didn't you feel that large spike of energy?" he asked, like he was speaking to a five year old child. Krillin ignored the obvious insult in his tone of voice and instead stood, checking one more time to see if Gohan was awake. No such luck; he was still unconscious.

"If it's not Cell," Krillin began, referring to his earlier statement. "then who is it? I mean, it's not like it could be Freeza or anything."

Vegeta grunted. "Probably a new enemy who wants to test out _my _power," he said, smirking. His smirk quickly fell off of his face a moment later. Probably remembering his vow at the Cell Games.

"Well, in any case, I think we should check it out," Krillin suggested. The flame-haired Saiyan stared at him with a look of disgust and disbelief.

"And why the hell should I come?" he spat. "It's not my problem. Go do us all a favour and get killed, not like anyone will care anyways."

He ignored his comment and climbed out of the window, choosing to stand a few feet away from Vegeta. Hopefully Gohan would be okay; he was only planning to check out the power level and come back.

"Hey! With Goku gone, someone's gotta look after Earth, and it's gotta be us by default," he said firmly. Vegeta simply 'hmphed' and turned away.

"…Fine," he mumbled. "Not like I have anything better to do. But if you get your ass kicked, I'm going to laugh at you, and then I'm going to help the enemy finish you off."

Krillin's eye twitched, but he chose not to say anything. It was decided: they would go. Hopefully Chichi wouldn't find out that he'd just left her injured son lying on the bed unattended (there goes his head...). Without further conversation, the two warriors took off into the forest, bracing themselves for the power they might have to face.

* * *

"Man, it's scorching hot out here!"

"Yeah, it is!"

The desert bandit Yamcha and his long-time cat friend Puar trudged through the heated sands towards a town not very far away. They needed to pick up some supplies and there were no stores around their area. Currently, Puar was resting on her friend's shoulder while Yamcha was walking with a small backpack on his back full of water and food. Puar got up and flew around Yamcha's head.

"Hey Yamcha! We should visit our friends soon! We haven't seen them in a long time," she said, pausing to float right in front of the bandit's face. Yamcha laughed.

"Yeah, that seems like a good idea," he said, smiling. His smile dropped instantly, however, and he suddenly became more alert. Puar looked at him with an expression of concern.

"Y-Yamcha? What is it?" she asked. Yamcha didn't respond; his gaze was focused and fearful at the same time.

"Puar?" he said suddenly. Said cat tilted her head to the side.

"Yes?"

"I-I think...I think we'll be seeing our friends sooner than we thought."

The floating blue cat raised her eyebrows. "Huh? But why?"

A drop of sweat dripped off of Yamcha's chin. "I felt a large power level spike up suddenly in a city near a forest," he said, his voice shaking. "And thousands of small power levels just disappeared!"

Puar gasped. They both knew what this meant. Yamcha nodded as if he read Puar's thoughts.

"That's right, Puar," he said grimly. "A new enemy. One more powerful than Cell."

They both fell silent after the statement as the full seriousness of the situation hit. Despite the fear and anxiousness Yamcha was feeling, he couldn't help but think_, '__Other World, here I come._'

* * *

**Note: A heated wheat pillow may seem like a weird thing to put on a sick person's head (were you expecting a white cloth?) but whenever my head hurts, my mother warms up this pillow full of wheat and puts it on my head. It really works!**

**Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I'll really try not to take so long on the next one. Again, it's been edited, so I hope you reread it! 'Till the next!**


	8. It Has Begun

**The Power Within**

**Well...it's been a nice, lazy, unproductive three months, but I'm finally back with another chapter. Sorry for making you guys wait so long (especially since I said that I wouldn't take long on this one. Ha!). I put a lot of thinking into this chapter and the chapters to come, so that's the good news at least. Another thing: this chapter has way more questions than it does answers, so review if anything gets confusing, okay? **

**Also, I just wanted to say that I found a mistake in the previous chapter. When Krillin was talking to the unconscious Gohan, I believe he said something about his nose being stuffy. Correction: Krillin has no nose. So, ignore that! XD **

**On to the story!**

* * *

Krillin and Vegeta dashed through the forest, making sure to keep their power level down so that whoever the high power level belonged to couldn't sense them. Vegeta was ahead of Krillin because he refused to wait for a human, so Krillin had some time to himself as he flanked the prince. He wondered what caused the spike of energy. Was it one of the other Z-fighters, training? No, the signal wasn't familiar. Besides, none of them were that strong, not even Goku. Was there a glitch in his senses? No, Vegeta felt the power level as well. There was one more option that he didn't want to consider, but was the only plausible choice.

Was it another enemy, more powerful than Cell?

If so, he was screwed. The monk had ceased his training for the most part because of the peace that had ensued after Cell, so he didn't think he had the power necessary to beat another enemy. He had really thought that Cell would be the end of the evil that was constantly drawn to Earth, but it seems like he was wrong. What made the monk feel horrible, though, was that Goku stayed dead so that the Earth would be safe. Instead of peace, Goku's absence left them even more open to enemy attacks, since the Saiyan warrior was usually the one to save the day. Without his help and encouragement, Krillin didn't think that he could win another battle.

_'As Yamcha would say, Otherworld, here I–_'

"Hey, baldy! If you're done being an idiot, pay attention! We're almost there," Vegeta snapped. Krillin scratched the back of his head and sped up to catch up with Vegeta, who was way ahead of him. The two ran for about a minute longer through the dense, green forest before Vegeta stopped and stared at something ahead, his face holding the slightest bit of surprise. Krillin skidded to a stop beside him and followed the prince's line of sight. They'd reached a city, but he couldn't tell which city it was. East? South? It was hard to tell what direction they'd gone in because the forest winded and twisted, messing up their sense of direction. The plain, grey buildings stood tall, windows shining in the light. Cars stood abandoned in the streets, and stores stayed lonely and empty. It seemed as if the city had been abandoned in a rush. When Krillin couldn't see any sign of damage, he sighed in relief.

"Well, I don't think whoever it is did any damage yet, so that's good," he said, stretching his arms. "The citizens must've fled when the bad guy came, so we don't have to worry about that. I guess we'll just come back when we–"

"Fool!" Vegeta said firmly. "Look closer, behind the buildings, then tell me if it did any damage."

The monk placed a hand on his forehead to shield his eyes from the glaring sun and peered closer at the city. Seeing nothing yet again, he threw his hands up in the air in exasperation.

"Man, you Saiyans and your super vision," he sighed. "I give up. Let's get closer."

Vegetas snarled in annoyance. "I can't deal with you humans and your pathetic visual limitations," he said. "Saiyans are much better suited for these kinds of situations."

That struck a nerve. More than one, in fact, but Krillin was already used to the prince's royal insults. If it helped the man boost his own ego then fine; he could deal with it, as long as it didn't interrupt the mission.

The two ran into the city without another word. They ran past the hills, fields, and small buildings that signalled the transition between forest and city before reaching the heart of the area. Krillin skidded to a stop and gasped.

"What the..." he breathed in surprise, shock overwhelming his senses. Vegeta said nothing, and simply crossed his arms knowingly.

Before them lay a truly grotesque sight. Bodies upon bodies were scattered in large piles around the city, mangled beyond recognition. From these bodies blood was spilled, painting the ground a dark, thick crimson. Their eyes were open, staring blankly at the two warriors as if it was them that murdered them. Krillin stared at the carnage with a look of terror on his face, skin completely drained of colour. He stumbled back in shock and had to stop his shaking legs from causing him to collapse on the ground.

"W-w-who could have d-done this!?" the monk sputtered. "W-who's capable of this kinda damage!?"

"What are you gaping at?" Vegeta snapped, walking around the bodies as if he hardly acknowledged their presence. "You've been fighting for years now, haven't you?" He spat on the ground carelessly. "You should be used to this kind of carnage by now."

This made Krillin angry. He clenched his fists and took a step forward. "Use to carnage? What's wrong with you, Vegeta!?" he asked furiously. "These are innocent people!"

"Were," Vegeta retorted, staring indifferently at the body of a maimed little girl.

Krillin froze, then took a deep breath. He had to remain calm in this type of situation, something that he had always relied on Goku for. "They're dead, Vegeta," he said as calmly as he could, knowing full well that Vegeta would yell at him any minute. "Does that mean anything to you?"

Just as Krillin had predicted, Vegeta snapped. "Do you think I'm an idiot?" he said angrily. "Someone or something arrived and killed them. Of course it means something. It's not shocking, though, because these humans were too weak to defend themselves."

"Not shocking? Weak?" the monk exclaimed, feeling brave all of a sudden. "What kind of person are you? It's not their fault they died!"

"Yes it is! In this world, it's brute strength that determines the outcome of a battle! The mightiest survive and the weak perish!"

"Fine. If that's the way you want to think, go ahead. But I still can't believe that this...this murder doesn't shock you! Just look around, Vegeta! How can you be so cold-hearted!?"

The flame-haired prince looked around the area, his face showing no fear, shock, or pity. He walked around the body of a middle-aged man and stared, then gave Krillin such a cold and hardened look that it made the monk almost reel back in shock.

"I've seen much worse than this without blinking an eye," he said, his voice ice-cold. "When you've been raised under Frieza's rule for the majority of your life, you tend to grow indifferent to these kinds of situations. We Saiyans were taught by that monster to purge and destroy entire planets without showing the petty emotions that you are now, because it interfered with the mission. This is the way I was raised." He snarled. "Don't be so quick to judge, _human_."

Krillin was left speechless. He suddenly realized that there was so much about Vegeta that he didn't know. He assumed that the man's evilness and black heart caused his personality to be so horrible, but it seemed that that wasn't the case. Krillin vaguely recalled Vegeta giving a similar speech to Goku on Namek; he hadn't paid attention then because he had been overcome by shock and fear. The monk felt guilt pool in his stomach; if he had known, he wouldn't have made those accusations.

"I-I'm really sorry, Vegeta," he said quietly. The prince spat on the ground.

"Save it," he said. "I didn't come here for a pity party. I came here to look for that high power level."

This made the monk jump. To think he'd almost forgotten about...

"Alright, let's look around some more," he said, bracing himself for the scenes he would see as he walked around. He couldn't let his emotions take over; this was important.

They walked around the city some more, examining the damage and looking for any signs or clues that would reveal to them the monster that caused the destruction. Krillin was currently poking at a piece of ripped green cloth stuck to a broken window when Vegeta called him over. He jogged to where the prince was at.

"Yeah, what is it? Found something?" he asked, stopping to see what the warrior was looking at. Vegeta frowned.

"Take a look at this," he said, pointing to the side of one of the damaged buildings. Krillin read what was on it and gasped.

**IT HAS BEGUN.**

That was the message which was scrawled in blood on the side of the building, giving it a chilling and foreboding feel. The monk stared at the red lettering and frowned.

"What? It has begun...? _What _has begun?" he wondered aloud. Vegeta crossed his arms and scowled.

"This must be some kind of sick joke," he said. "Now it's leaving messages."

"This is serious, Vegeta," Krillin pointed out. "For all we know, the message could be implying that what it did here was only the tip of the iceberg."

The prince, showing he agreed, simply nodded.

Krillin stared at the sign. "We have to be on our guard from now on," he said. "There could be more coming soon."

The two Z-fighters stood silently beside the building, thinking about the message. Vegeta suddenly realized that they couldn't feel the power level anymore and pointed this out to Krillin. The monk nodded and decided that they should evacuate.

"You're just chicken," Vegeta said, smirking. Krillin ignored him and began to fly up.

"We'll meet back at Goku's house tomorrow," he said. Vegeta frowned and flew up as well.

"I'm going to do this _alone_," he snarled. "I don't need a weakling like you holding me back. I will find him and kill him by myself!"

With that, the prince took off in the opposite direction. Krillin sighed and ran a hand over his head.

"Whatever you say..." he whispered. The monk powered up and took off towards Kame House for some rest. It was almost night, and he was beginning to feel mentally tired. The day's events wore him out and he needed some sleep. There were a lot of things on his mind that he needed to sort out.

'_I hope we can beat this thing...whatever it is,_' he thought as he flew. '_Goku…why did you have to stay dead?_'

* * *

Yamcha flew as fast as he could in the direction of the power level he had sensed earlier, readying himself for the damage he was sure to see when he got there. He couldn't sense the energy anymore, but the Z-warrior had a pretty good idea of where it was. Why he had chosen to chase after it was beyond him, but as a Z-fighter it was his duty to make sure the Earth was safe, even more so now that Goku was gone. Just thinking about his friend's death make Yamcha feel stressed, and so he quickly banished the thought. There was plenty of time to mull over Goku later; right now, the scar-faced bandit had to focus on the task at hand. Clenching his teeth, he sped up to full speed (which wasn't very fast if you compared it to the Saiyans, but at least he tried). The bandit flew over the desert, past small villages, over the 439 East District mountain area, and past the forest before finally reaching a city. He stopped immediately, eyes wide. Whether it was East City or West City, North City or South City, Yamcha didn't care; the only thing that he cared about were the countless number of blood-covered bodies lying amongst the city. He hovered in midair, and despite mentally preparing for this beforehand, he was too shocked to even move.

"W-what...is this!?" he blurted out, hands beginning to shake. "I knew that people died, but...at this level!?"

Yamcha took a deep breath to calm his wild emotions, then hesitated, debating whether he should go down into the city or not. At last, he decided to head down; after all, it was what Goku would have done. Besides, he wasn't a coward (or, at least, he liked to think he wasn't). After finding a clean spot to land in, the desert bandit tapped down and closed his eyes. Once he counted to ten to prepare himself, he opened his eyes and couldn't help but cringe and look away when he saw the lifeless eyes of an old woman gaze up at him. He berated himself for being weak and walked forward, feeling apprehensive. After walking quite a distance, Yamcha decided that there was nothing to see here but the dead. Clearly, whoever caused the mess had already fled the area and hid his or her power level.

"Damn it!" he swore. "I must have missed it. I'd better go back and tell the others!"

"You are not going _anywhere_."

Yamcha spun around immediately, his heart slamming against his chest. Before him stood a creature one would only see in the depths of Hell. He…no, _it _was blacker then the blackest void, with two piercing red eyes that were staring straight at him. It smiled madly and stepped forward. Being sensible, Yamcha did the only thing that came to his mind.

He fled.

'_Oh geez! Oh God! Oh shit! Oh crap! Oh hell!_'

He ran as fast as he could, dodging dead bodies as he did so. The bandit spared a glance behind him and immediately snapped his head forward again when he saw the creature's eyes stare back at him, red as blood. Maniacal laughter filled the air, wrapping itself around him and suffocating him. Yamcha suddenly tripped on an arm and tumbled to the ground.

'_God damnit! This is just like that Slenderman game I played once! And we all know how that turned out,_' he thought, quickly peeling himself off of the ground and running again. Adrenaline pulsed through his veins, making the world feel slow and numb around him. It was a feeling he hadn't felt since the Saibaman latched on to him all those years back during the arrival of the Saiyans and killed him. Just remembering that fateful battle frightened him even more, and he pushed his power level as high as it could go to gain some speed and escape from the monster chasing him.

'_Get away, get away, get away!_'

The laughter became louder and louder until Yamcha had to cover his ears to avoid becoming deaf. It became hard to run with the sound blaring in his ears and pressing him in from all sides. He stumbled and tripped again, rolling to a halt against…something. On instinct, he looked up to see what had stopped him. In front of him, written in blood, was a haunting message.

**IT HAS BEGUN.**

Yamcha's heart leapt through his throat. Footsteps sounded right behind him and he spun around, only to see the creature yet again. He crawled back against the wall.

"It had begun," it said, smiling as Yamcha began to shake. The bandit was huddled against the wall, bracing himself for the final blow. The dark creature stood there for a moment, basking in the human warrior's fear, before walking right up to him and bringing his face close. If the air didn't seem cold and brittle before, it did now; Yamcha felt like anything he said or did would break the atmosphere between them. And along with the atmosphere, the desert bandit would also break. He stayed quiet.

"It has begun. Do you know the meaning of this statement?" the creature asked ominously, baring its jagged teeth. When Yamcha shook his head frantically, it stepped back. "I would like you tell those pathetic organisms you call 'friends' what I said. Tell them to expect more from me. This is only the _beginning _of what I am capable of." As if to make its point, the monster picked up a dead male from the ground and held him up by his throat. Then, swiftly, it ripped off the head and tossed it to Yamcha, who caught it reflexively. The warrior looked down at the head in his hands. Wide, empty eyes stared back at him, void of life. Yamcha—feeling his stomach lurch—screamed and threw the head aside, then tried to calm his frantically beating heart. The creature laughed.

"I want you to remember that, _Yamcha_," it mocked. When it noticed surprise and confusion wash over said man's face, it smiled. "I will see you again _very _soon."

It vanished.

Yamcha stayed pressed against the wall, his breathing erratic. Slowly, he stumbled into a sitting position, then stood while holding on to the wall for support. His legs were shaking, and so was his determination.

"H-how…did it know my name?" he wondered aloud, looking around the city at the damage that had been inflicted. "And how are we s-supposed to stop this thing? I-I-I don't think we'll be able to…to…" He trailed off. After a moment of hesitation, he realized how cowardly that sounded and mentally slapped himself.

'_Why am I acting like such a baby?_' he thought. '_I act all macho when I'm with the other fighters, but as soon as I'm alone I act like a coward. Is this what Goku would have done? What Krillin, Tien, Vegeta, Gohan, and Piccolo would have done? Act like a coward? Hide in the corner while the enemy mocked them?_'

The fear and shock left Yamcha's body, quickly replaced with anger and determination. His legs stopped shaking and his eyes grew hard. Suddenly, Yamcha didn't feel cowardly anymore. He felt strong.

'_Well, I'm not a coward! I'll show this damn monster what the Z-fighters are made of!_'

With a new, fiery spirit rushing through his veins (is this what the Saiyans felt like during a battle?), Yamcha took off into the air. Before he did anything, he had to warn the other fighters what was coming. Gather them all up and explain the situation, then hopefully fight and prevail. He had a great feeling about this situation. They would win. They just had to.

'_Goodbye Otherworld, hello Victory!_'

* * *

Krillin sat at a table in a restaurant, although he wasn't quite sure which one it was. Piles and piles of tantalizing, delicious food were in front of him, all being inhaled by someone at a very fast rate. The monk frowned; he'd ordered that food for himself! Although every time he reached for the food, his hand went right through it. It didn't help that his stomach kept grumbling every second, mocking his inability to eat the food, and that whoever was behind the plates did not stop eating even to take a breath. Steam began to escape from Krillin's ears as his anger rose; he would show this guy not to eat all of his food!

"Hey! Stop that! That's mine!" Krillin barked. "I paid for it!"

The person on the other side stopped to slurp up the last bit of whatever they were eating, and then burped. "Ah, come on, buddy!" he said, the voice clearly being male. "You know what they say, sharing is caring!"

Krillin froze. That voice. Whiny and high-pitched, but full of happiness and hope. It couldn't be...it had to be...!

"G-G-Goku, is that you!?" he said, eyes brimming with tears of joy. The plates were pushed aside one by one, until Krillin could see a large smile. More plates were pushed aside until wide, shining eyes stared back at him, then a blue and orange gi, then a tuft of green hair.

Wait...what?

All of the plates were pushed aside now, and there sat Goku in all of his green-haired glory.

"Krillin, why aren't you eating?" he asked, shoving a spring roll in his mouth. "The food's great!"

The monk gaped at his friend. "S-since when did you dye your hair green, buddy?" Goku raised an eyebrow.

"What are you talking about? My hair was always this colour!" he said. The Saiyan warrior's eyes suddenly lit up and he leaned forward, smiling peculiarly. "Can I tell you a secret?"

Krillin felt uneasy. "Sure..." he said, leaning forward as well. Goku brought his mouth near his friend's ear and said, in the quietest voice ever, "Wake up."

The monk pulled back, eyebrows raised. "What?"

Goku's smile widened. "I said wake up!" he yelled in a high-pitched, squeaky voice. "Wake up, wake up!"

Now, Krillin knew Goku was crazy, but not this crazy. He was starting to feel creeped out. Goku kept repeating the words, and it got progressively louder each time. Suddenly, Goku's smile widened, and it was so bright that it emitted a blinding white light that assaulted his senses.

"Wake up, you idiot!"

Freezing cold water was splashed on the monk's head, and he shot up immediately in his bed. In front of him stood Oolong, holding a now-empty bucket and wearing a fearful, panicked expression on his face.

"Get out of bed, you sleepy-head!" he yelled, pointing towards the living room and jumping up and down. "There's something on TV! Quick, you have to come look!"

Krillin rubbed his face lethargically. "Man, I had the weirdest dream..." he mumbled, throwing the blanket off of himself. Oolong grabbed his arm and pulled him towards the living room.

"I don't care about your stupid dream! You've got to look at this!" he shouted. Krillin groggily entered the living room and collapsed on the couch, realizing that Master Roshi was already there drinking tea. The old man pushed a cup towards his student, who took it thankfully and shifted his gaze to the television.

"So what's all of the ruckus about?" he said, taking a sip of his green tea. There was nothing but commercials on TV, so he didn't see what the problem was. Master Roshi, however, looked completely serious.

"Just wait until the commercials are over, and you'll know," he said. Once the commercials ended, the news channel appeared. A frightened yet professional reporter stood in front of a city which didn't have the normal rustle-bustle of a normal city. In fact, it was so empty that it seemed as if no one had ever lived there. Krillin spat out his tea, eyes widening.

"Oh, crap!" he blurted out. "I-I almost forgot! That city...I went there yesterday!"

Master Roshi's eyebrows furrowed in response to his student's outburst. "You what? Are you stupid, boy?" he said angrily. "You know I taught you to survey a situation before you jump into it. You could've gotten hurt!"

"Shut it, you old man!" Oolong said jokingly. "I'll bet if it were you, you would've ran away like a baby!"

"Hey! Quiet, piggy!" Master Roshi retorted. "I'm Master Roshi! I'll have you know that I was once the strongest fighter in the world!"

"Well, you're just a washed up paper bag now!"

Krillin waved his hand at the two. "Quit bickering, guys," he said in annoyance. "I want to hear this."

The television reporter shuffled her papers and looked straight at the camera. "And now, channel five, continuing coverage of the disaster in East City," she said professionally. "To recap the situation, all activities in East City came to a screeching halt when the entire population was murdered by an unidentified cause." The camera moved around to show the carnage in the city, although the blood and gore was blurred out just in case there were any children watching the news. "There is no way to identify when this incident happened, although on-the-scene investigators believe it happened sometime late last night."

The reporter suddenly stopped her report and put a hand to the microphone on her ear. After a moment of hesitation, she shuffled her papers and looked back at the camera. "It looks like we have more details on the crisis in East City," she said. "Our latest reports indicate that there are no signs of life anywhere. It has been confirmed that the entire city was murdered and not a single person was left behind. On-the-scene investigators have yet to recover a single individual who escaped the massacre. Now, in other news, three people have been rescued from a house fire in—"

The TV was promptly shut off. "I think we've heard enough," Oolong said, twirling the remote in his hands. Master Roshi nodded and turned to his student. "What do you think, Krillin? Didn't you say you went there yesterday?" he asked.

Said fighter sighed. "Honestly, I don't know what to make of this situation," he said frustratingly. "When Vegeta and I visited the city the other day, we arrived too late. Whoever or whatever caused the damage had already left. All that was left was the clean-up duty."

The turtle hermit sipped his tea. "Hmm…that sounds bad…" he mused. "And when exactly did you visit the city?"

Krillin though for a moment, absently studying his reflection in his cup of tea. "We visited it around early evening," he said. "Right after…after…" A light bulb went off over the monk's head. "Gohan! I went to see Gohan first because of something Piccolo'd said to me earlier that day! I sensed a high power level during my visit, and then when Vegeta arrived sensing the same thing, we both went to see what happened."

He pushed his cup away and stood. "The kid was sick, really sick," he continued, mind working at a kilometre an hour. Everything was slowly falling into place. "He had cuts and bruises all over his body, which was weird because Chichi 'd said that he was perfectly fine an hour before. And get this; Piccolo said that Gohan killed five campers a couple of days ago, and that the kid's been acting strange ever since."

This made both Master Roshi and Oolong pause. "Wait, what?" they exclaimed in unison. Krillin nodded.

"Yeah, I had the same reaction…but it's true."

Master Roshi gripped his cup tighter, eyebrows furrowing with worry. "Are you trying to tell me that Gohan is the one who murdered all those people?" he said accusingly. "I doubt it! He's pure, like Goku! Don't you think that's a little big of an accusation?"

"Yeah, well, it's the only lead we have right now that makes sense," Krillin said, folding his hands behind his head. "And the only way we can confirm it is by giving Gohan another visit. We can ask him to see if he knows anything. The way I see it, we either get an answer and a lead, or we don't and we have to start from scratch."

The turtle hermit nodded. "Yes, that makes sense. I think that's a good idea." He scratched his beard. "But...take someone with you, like Tien or Yamcha. You'll need all of the help you can get."

He spoke to empty air, however, as Krillin was already out the door and in the air with a small shout of, "See ya!" The monk knew that he had no time to waste; if it really was Gohan, then he had to be stopped immediately before any more people were hurt. Master Roshi watched his student leave and smiled inwardly. With determination running through Krillin, the old man was confident that the problem would be stopped before anything else could happen.

* * *

"So you were there, too?" Krillin asked Yamcha as they both flew towards the Son house. The desert bandit had sensed the monk's energy and immediately sped up to meet with him. Apparently, Yamcha had been out looking for any clues regarding the incident and was going to visit Krillin after to ask if he could help. When Yamcha met up with Krillin, however, he found out that the monk was already on his way to gather more evidence, and that the evidence would hopefully come from Gohan. So, the desert bandit had joined his friend on his journey. Currently, the two were flying above numerous small villages that were scattered around the countryside. From there, they would fly over cities, forests, mountains, and eventually reach the Son house.

"Yeah, I was," Yamcha replied. "It was pretty scary. The monster almost made me freak out. Man, just thinking about it is giving me the creeps."

"Yeah…" Krillin mused. "It was scary, and…wait, what monster?"

Yamcha's scratched his head. "Oh, you don't know?" he asked, puzzled. "Didn't you see a weird black shadow monster type of thing? It said that it was the one that caused the damage."

Krillin froze mid-flight. "_What!?_"

Yamcha's eyebrows shot up suddenly. "Ah, yeah, I forgot to tell you! It told me to tell you that what it did in the city was only the beginning! There was some creepy sign there written in–"

"Blood?" Krillin interrupted, turning to fully face his friend. "It said _it has begun_, right? On the wall of a broken building beside a small pile of bodies?"

The desert bandit paused, then nodded. "Yup, sounds about right. You saw it, too?" he asked. The monk had to wait a few minutes before he could fully process the information. As soon as he grasped what his friend had said, he shook his head in denial.

"N-no, that can't...I mean, yeah, I saw it, b-but...I don't understand," he said slowly. "The whole reason I was going to Gohan's house was because...now, don't call me crazy, but...I had a feeling that he was the one that did it."

Before he could stop himself, Yamcha burst out laughing. "What? _Gohan?_ Are you serious?" he said in between chuckles. "I doubt the kid would even hurt a fly, let alone actual people. You're really off your wagon these days, Krillin buddy."

Krillin became frustrated suddenly, something that was out of his character. He usually made light of the situation, but that was only because he always had an idea of what was going on. This was the first time that Krillin couldn't make sense of the situation. Even with Cell, there was at least some kind of lead they had. Even though everything was going wrong, they still knew what dangers they were facing and what they could do next. In this situation, however, there were so many parts to the puzzle that he couldn't figure out which pieces were real and which pieces weren't. They didn't even have a lead yet, for goodness sake! He would have pinched the bridge of his nose if he had one, or grasped his hair if he had some, but instead the monk simply sighed heavily and threw his hands in the air.

"I don't even know what to believe anymore, Yamcha!" he exclaimed. "First Piccolo comes telling me that Gohan murdered five people, then we sense a giant power level, then thousands of people die. All of those events are likely to be traced back to Gohan, but now you're telling me that there's some other shadow creature doing it. What are we supposed to do? None of it makes sense!"

Yamcha paused to consider that. "Well, we could continue with heading towards Gohan's house to see if he has any answers," he said. "For all we know, all of those bruises you were telling me about that he had could have been caused by the monster."

Now, that was a plan that made sense. Krillin smiled wide, happy that something was finally going right. "Hey, man, that's a good idea! Why didn't I think of that? That's...that's so obvious!"

Yamcha gave his friend a thumbs up. "Oh, you know." He dropped his hands and looked into the distance, then faced Krillin again. "By the way, I think we should keep moving."

Krillin nodded. With a burst of energy, the two warriors shot off into the direction of the Son house. As they passed over the forest which indicated that they were close, Krillin suddenly had a realization.

"Hey, Yamcha?" he said. Said warrior looked over.

"Hm? What is it?" he asked.

"I think we should drop by Piccolo after this," the monk said. "He should have some answers to, if not the incident, then at least for what's happening to Gohan."

Yamcha nodded, showing he agreed. The two continued on with their quest in hopes of finding the answers they needed. The problem had to stop before it grew, and with Goku gone, it was now up to the rest of the Z-fighters to deal with it.

* * *

Piccolo sat by his waterfall, seemingly deep in meditation but in reality listening to the conversation taking place kilometres away between Krillin and Yamcha. When their conversation finished, he dropped out of his lotus position and stood.

'_Things are much worse than I thought they were..._' he thought to himself, frowning. He thought that Gohan was the main problem, but it seemed as if there was a bigger cause. Now, simply observing and analyzing the situation wasn't going to get him anywhere. If he wanted to do, then he had to act. Sitting around and snooping in on people's conversations was useless if he didn't do anything with the information he received.

'_I think it's time to pay a visit to the rest of the Z-fighters._'

It was the right choice, in his opinion. They needed all of the help they could get to nip this in the bud. Piccolo decided to meet Krillin and Yamcha at Gohan's house and figure out a plan from there. If Yamcha was right about the creature, then it was probably already on its way to another city. However, like Cell, they could only sense it when it let them, it seemed. Piccolo powered up and, with a burst of energy, took off in the direction of the other two warriors in hopes of finding the answers he needed.

* * *

**That's it, guys! Sorry it was shorter than the previous chapter. I hope it wasn't too confusing for you all. If you have any questions or comments, review or PM me please. I tried to put more descriptive words in this chapter as requested by a fellow guest reviewer, but I don't think my efforts really showed. Well, I still hope it was descriptive enough. Expect a lot of strange, interesting action coming up! There is so much more I have left to write, and it's all going to come very soon! Au Revoir!**


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